


Book 1: Rescue Mission

by JayaLynne



Series: The Shape of Perception [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:54:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26537650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayaLynne/pseuds/JayaLynne
Summary: Ten years after the Yuzong-Vong war, the galaxy is at peace. But all is not well. A rising threat to the Jedi lurks in the shadows. Closer to home, Wedge and Corran and Mirax's daughter Cami have gone missing. Only Luke, increasingly isolated from friends and family, felt the disturbance. (Complete with Chapter 5 and Epilogue)
Series: The Shape of Perception [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1929682
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue and Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Set 39 ABY. Defector and The Scenes Between are not required reading but they do offer some context, a teaser to be pulled out later, and they'll be referenced as they are all the same universe of experience.

The Shape of Perception: Prologue

The Cult of Vir-Sun

Vir-Sun was a Force adept, neither Jedi nor Sith, who perfected the art of Force perception manipulation, altering how another person perceived events through the Force. The Jedi considered such manipulation to be a Sith practice and refused to teach it. The Sith focused their skills on masking their presence from the Jedi.

Vir-Sun created five Holocrons to document his teachings and techniques. On his death, his senior disciples each took a Holocron and founded the Cult of Vir-Sun. But none of them ever fully perfected the craft, and as branches of the Cult became more active, the Jedi discovered them and destroyed them, considering them a threat to the Republic. The Sith learned the lesson well and remained hidden.

The Holocrons were lost, occasionally re-acquired by curious students who could never master enough of the skills to access all the Holocrons had to offer. During the reign of Emperor Palpatine, no student of Vir-Sun could match Palpatine's power. Students either abandoned their studies or were killed by Inquisitors.

After the second death of Emperor Palpatine, new, isolated pockets of the Cult of Vir-Sun bided their time to see what kind of Jedi Order would arise from the leadership of Luke Skywalker. The Jedi Order grew slowly, and fitfully. Its reach was short and its numbers were small. As the Jedi Order struggled to rebuild after its war with the Yuzong Vong, various factions of the Cult, along with other self-taught Force users not eager to see the Jedi return, vied for influence and membership. They were not allies. But some started to agree, the Jedi Order was ripe for a challenge...

* * *

The Shape of Perception: Rescue Mission

Wedge sat at the banquet table, bored. He hated these kinds of events. He was only here because Iella had to be, for her New Republic, Directorate of Intelligence, Assistant Director for Special Programs responsibilities. He was her "plus one." Tycho was around somewhere, because Winter was assisting Leia. Luke was also here, talking to whichever ambassadors and diplomats Leia needed him to talk to. None of it had slowed down in the ten years since the war with the Yuzong Vong ended. Leia had thrown herself into putting the galaxy back together and strengthening New Republic institutions. The political class had a lot of ideas (more like vague assumptions, Wedge thought) about Jedi participation in that, so Luke was here whenever Leia wanted him to be. Not that Luke didn't want to help her. But the past ten years had put considerable stress on both of them and they simply didn't communicate very well anymore.

Luke sat down next to Wedge and took a sip of water. He looked tired. But then, he always looked tired. The small handful of times a year Wedge saw him in person, or when calling him almost every week, Luke always looked tired. "Talk to anyone interesting?" Wedge asked.

"They're all interesting, in their own way," Luke said.

How diplomatic. "Talk to anyone without a political agenda?"

Luke raised an eyebrow. "I think that's a different event," he said, taking another sip of water.

Wedge smiled. Luke was the kindest person he had ever met, but even he wasn't above a bit of cynical humor.

Wedge swirled his drink around. The conversation Iella was having on the other side of him caught his attention.

"Do you have any children?" the diplomat asked her.

"Oh, life has been far too busy for that," Iella said.

It was true. They'd both been in their early 30s when they got married. Between his responsibilities on General Staff and Iella working her way up through the Directorate of Intelligence, there wasn't a lot of time for anything else. Even after he retired, she kept working. Wedge had always tried to make himself available to Luke and Leia and Corran's kids, as something of an extra uncle. The nine of them had all been good kids, but given how things turned out, he was glad he had not taken on the extra stress of parenthood that Luke, and Han and Leia, in particular had experienced.

Iella pulled out her pocket communicator. "A couple of my friends have the two cutest grandkids though. Look." She leaned over to show him some images.

Wedge frowned and glanced over her shoulder as she pulled up images of three-year-old Evan and one-year-old Julie. They were the children of Corran and Mirax's oldest child, Lujayne, and her husband Corey. Wedge glanced over at Luke, who had shifted his gaze away from them. Corey was Luke's oldest child. But they hadn't spoken in eight years, since Corey and Lujayne had decided to leave Yavin and attend a regular university. Luke had argued with Corey about it, more than once. Luke argued with Corran about it. Luke had not been invited to the wedding reception. He had not met his grandchildren. Wedge had tried to get Corran to intervene, but the answer was always the same. It wasn't his job to tell Corey and Lujayne what to do. Wedge thought it was a mess of miscommunication and misunderstanding. Luke hadn't been against them going to university. Just going off on their own before their training was complete. But Wedge couldn't get anyone to listen. No one ever listened.

"Oh, they're adorable," the diplomat said.

"She's only one and she's already starting to walk and tries to climb on anything she can get to," Iella said. "She'll be a mover."

Wedge glanced over at Luke. He was staring into his water glass.

"That's lovely," the diplomat said.

Wedge considered intervening. But Luke hated it when he did that. He said it would just make other people annoyed with Wedge and that wasn't worth it. _Come on Iella, stop,_ Wedge thought, as she kept chatting. Wedge caught another movement out of the corner of his eye. He watched Luke cautiously, surreptitiously, get up from the table and walk away. Wedge shook his head. It wasn't fair.

A few minutes later, Leia came up behind him and whispered. "Have you seen Luke?" she asked. "I thought he was over here."

"He got up a few minutes ago," Wedge said. "He didn't tell me where he was going."

Leia scowled a bit. "I wish he would tell me before he just walks off somewhere. I need him."

_Maybe he needs some space,_ Wedge thought. "Sorry, I don't know," he said.

"All right, never mind, I'll find him," Leia said. "Thanks." She walked away.

Wedge took another sip of his whiskey. It never changed.

* * *

Wedge leaned against a railing as he watched people clear out of the banquet hall. He was hoping to catch Luke before he snuck out and went back to Yavin tomorrow. Wedge spotted him on the other side of the room, finishing up with some dignitaries.

"Hey, Wedge."

Wedge turned to see Tycho coming his way. "What's up?"

"A bunch of us are headed to a bar on level 538. You want to come? I thought I saw Luke around, I was wondering if he might want to come too."

Wedge paused. Luke almost certainly wouldn't want to, as he wasn't that comfortable in bars, even upscale ones. Still, he'd probably appreciate the invitation. "I don't know, go ask him," Wedge said. "He's over there."

"Didn't you tell me once that Luke doesn't drink?" Iella said as she joined them.

"What? He doesn't? Since when?" Tycho asked.

Wedge remembered the exact moment he stopped, right before Rogue Squadron left for the Tyferra mission. Luke had become very conscious of his image as a Jedi. Not in a vain way, but he felt he needed to maintain credibility, even when he didn't feel very credible. "I don't know, about...thirty-three years ago?" Wedge said.

Tycho's jaw dropped. "What? You didn't tell me that. Didn't you have wine on the tables at your wedding? He didn't have any?"

"I don't know." Wedge crossed his arms. "I put him at a table with you and Wes and Hobbie for a reason. You tell me."

"Oh. I don't remember," Tycho said.

"He's probably going to tell you no," Iella said to Tycho.

"I don't want to embarrass him," Tycho said.

"If you want him to go, ask him," Wedge said. "If you don't want him to go, don't ask him."

"Are you going?" Iella asked Wedge.

"No, I...promised Leia I'd help her with some stuff when this was over," Wedge said.

"Oh," Iella said. "Well, we're going to be on level 538, section 162, if you come out later."

"Okay," Wedge said. "I'll let you know." Wedge watched Iella and Tycho walk out of the banquet hall. Luke was still on the other side of the room, by himself now, as the dignitaries had also left. Wedge shook his head again.

* * *

Wedge walked with Luke on level 536. It was a bit chilly, for being late spring. But seasons didn't mean much on Coruscant. "Are you hungry?" Wedge asked. He didn't recall seeing Luke eat very much at the banquet hall.

"No, not really," Luke said. "This looks interesting though." Luke stepped over to the window of a nearby shop with a menu board posted outside. It was a tea shop. "See this tea?" he said, pointing to one of the options. "It's from the Erlong system. I was out there a couple of years ago to talk to some of their planetary supervisors. There's a really elaborate tea ceremony, about two hours long, to initiate significant events. My visit wasn't a significant event, but they wanted to show it to me. They're very proud of it."

"Is the tea good?" Wedge asked. He'd never been much of a tea drinker.

"Oh, it's very good," Luke said. "It takes about fifty years to curate the leaves. I'm surprised they have it out here."

"Let's check it out," Wedge said. He led Luke inside and they sat at a booth along a side wall.

A server droid approached them. "Good evening gentlepersons. How may I be of service to you?"

"We'd like the Erlong-é tea, please," Luke said.

"Excellent choice gentleperson," the droid said. "Would you prefer cups or a pot?"

"How about a pot?" Wedge said.

"Very good gentlepersons. I will be right back with your order." Several minutes later the droid returned with a teapot, a warming plate, and two cups. "Do you require anything else?" it asked.

"No, thank you," Luke said.

"Very good gentlepersons," the droid said. "Please enjoy your beverage." The droid returned to the back of the shop.

Wedge poured two cups and pushed one over to Luke. "Cheers," he said.

Luke smiled a small bit. "Cheers," he said.

The tea smelled light and airy. Wedge took a sip. It wasn't floral, as he had expected, but more citrusy and organic. "This is really good," he said.

"The leaves are mixed with some fruit peels, if I remember right," Luke said. "Did Iella go home?" he asked.

"No, a bunch of them went to some bar, a couple of levels up," Wedge said.

"Oh," Luke said. "You...didn't want to go?"

Wedge took another sip of tea, hoping to hide whatever frustration was playing across his face. _Why are you like this?_ "No, I didn't, really," he said. "Sounded like it would be crowded. I've had enough crowds today."

Luke nodded sympathetically. "Crowds can get oppressive," he said.

Wedge's pocket communicator chirped. He picked it up, then glanced at Luke. "Go ahead," Luke said.

Wedge opened it. "Text from Iella," he muttered.

_Where are you?_ she asked.

_Out with Luke,_ he responded.

_Are you coming up here?_ she asked.

_No, we're out. We're at a tea shop a couple of levels down from you._ Wedge put the communicator back on the table, hoping he didn't look too annoyed.

"Everything okay?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, she just wanted to know if we were coming up to the bar. I told her we were at a tea shop."

Luke nodded. "You can go if you want," he said.

Wedge looked up at him. "If I had wanted to go, I would have," he said. "I didn't."

Luke gave him a slightly pained look, and looked back at his teacup. Wedge felt bad. That had come out a bit more harshly than he'd intended. "Do _you_ want to go to the bar?" he asked.

Luke looked back up at him with a hint of sadness. "Wedge, nobody wants me there."

The same conversation, again and again. "Luke, that's not true," Wedge said.

"It's not really my kind of space," Luke said.

"That's not the same thing as no one wanting you there," Wedge said.

"It would just be awkward for everyone," Luke said.

"Also not the same thing," Wedge said as he picked up his communicator again.

_A tea shop!? Since when are you a tea drinker?_ Iella asked.

Now Wedge was actually annoyed. _I don't know. Since today. So what?_

_Touchy. Sorry._

Wedge let his communicator slide out of his hand onto the table. "Always the same," he mumbled. He looked up to see Luke frowning at him with concern. "Every time I want to do something that isn't what everyone else is doing, I get questions." Luke cocked his head to the side slightly. "Wes and Hobbie go do whatever they want and no one cares." Luke didn't say anything. "I see them all the time," Wedge said. "I see you maybe ten times a year."

Luke reached across the table and put his hand on top of Wedge's. "Wedge, you can't make anyone do anything they didn't already want to do," he said calmly.

Wedge sighed. "Yeah, I know, you tell me that all the time," Wedge said. "They could be nicer about it though."

Luke refilled Wedge's teacup. "You want to hear about the tea ceremony?"

"Yeah, I do," Wedge said.

* * *

Early the next morning, Wedge walked into his kitchen where Iella was doing some breakfast dishes before she went to work. "What time did you get in?" she asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"I don't know. Late. Two, I think," Wedge said. He and Luke had stayed at the tea shop for about an hour. Wedge walked with him back to Han and Leia's apartment, where he always stayed when he was in Coruscant, even though he technically still owned the apartment across the hall. Then Wedge took a long walk by himself before going home. Iella had already gone to bed.

Iella eyed him carefully. "Wes made the comment about the tea shop, not me," she said.

"I know," Wedge said. "He texted me last night to apologize."

"So what's the problem, then?" she asked. Wedge looked at her. "You're doing it again," she said.

"Doing what again?" Wedge asked.

"Being moody and annoyed by everything," Iella said. "So what is it?"

Wedge had walked around so much the night before debating whether to have this exact conversation. "You were being rude," he said.

"The comment wasn't mine," she said.

"Not that," Wedge said.

"Then what?"

"The pictures," Wedge said. "Luke was sitting right there. You know he's never met them. You could have at least waited until he got up again."

Iella put a dish away. "He could have come over to look."

"He wants to be invited," Wedge said.

"Luke is an adult, he can come over and ask," Iella said. "And you are not his babysitter." Iella's work communicator chirped and she picked it up. "Wessiri." She stepped away.

Wedge stepped over to finish the last few dishes. _He's not going to come over and ask if he thinks you don't want him there,_ he thought.

Iella closed up her communicator. "I have to go," she said. "Early morning meeting with the Director's office. We'll talk about this later, okay?" She gave Wedge a quick kiss on the cheek, grabbed her jacket and left.

* * *

Wedge walked around one of the local docking ports. It was a good place for a stroll on a warm day, to watch the different types of ships go in and out, and do some people watching. Just normal Republic citizens going about their business.

Wedge couldn't really blame Luke for feeling like no one wanted him around. He'd taken a lot of blame over the past ten years for things that weren't...entirely his fault. He'd had arguments with Leia over what happened with Jacen and Anakin; arguments with Corran; arguments with his kids; arguments with Mara over how to manage and train his kids; arguments with Leia when one of his kids literally harassed Mara into leaving Yavin; arguments with Leia when her treasure box got exposed along with the family secret.

Mostly it was arguments with Leia. Except they weren't arguments so much as Leia venting her frustrations. But Luke believed he _was_ responsible so he never argued back. He just did what she asked him to do, and grew more and more isolated.

"Hey, Wedge!"

Wedge turned around and waved. "Hi Cami," he said. Camilla Horn was Corran and Mirax's youngest child and current captain of the _Pulsar Skate_. She and her older brother Hal had left Yavin six years earlier, shortly after Yvonne, one of Luke's twin daughters, had also left Yavin. It had been a bad week. Cami took over her mother's import/export business.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked.

"Just out for a walk," Wedge said. "Good for people watching."

"You want to come out with me?" Cami asked. "I'm facilitating a transaction for a friend and I could use a ride-along."

Wedge looked down at his street clothes. "I don't really have anything with me," he said.

"Oh, it's fine," Cami said, taking his hand. "It's casual. And it's just a day trip. I was planning on being back here this evening. I can send my mom a note that you're with me."

"You know what? Sure, I'll come," Wedge said. It was something different to do and something else to think about for a while.

"Great, I'm parked this way."

Wedge followed Cami down the line of docked ships to the _Pulsar Skate._ The sight of the ship still made his heart happy. He had a lot of fond memories of it. He ran his hand along the railing as he walked up the ramp. He heard a twittering off to the side in the ship. "Hi Whistler," he said. "Staying out of trouble?" The droid twittered back at him with an almost dry sarcasm. Wedge laughed. "Yes, I have no doubt Cami gets into far less trouble than Corran ever did."

Wedge joined Cami in the cockpit as she finished signaling to Control their intent to depart. He sat in the co-pilot's chair and looked around inside. "It looks a bit different since the last time I was in here," he said.

"Yeah, I've been making some custom upgrades," Cami said.

Wedge wondered if custom upgrades were anything like special modifications. "If you're not careful you're going to have a ship as finicky as the _Falcon_ ," he said.

Cami snorted. "Yeah, except I actually take care of my ship," she said. Wedge raised an eyebrow at her. "Brianna told me once that that ship is supposed to be white inside." Wedge raised the other eyebrow. "That's disgusting," Cami said and went back to the console.

Wedge chuckled. Brianna was Luke's other twin daughter and the only one of the nine kids to stay on Yavin. She also had not one single diplomatic bone in her body. Still, Wedge had to admit that the _Falcon_ probably _was_ decades overdue for a good power washing, inside and out. Not that he would tell Han that.

Cami got clearance from Control to depart. "Should take us about three hours to get there, once we're in hyperspace," she said. "Sit back and enjoy the ride."

* * *

A few hours later, the _Skate_ came out of hyperspace. Based on what Cami had told him, Wedge had expected a bustling space lane with lines of ships waiting to enter and exit. This was...not that. There were a couple of orbiting satellites, but otherwise the space was barren.

"Hang on, this isn't where we're supposed to be," Cami said. "Whistler, check the coordinates." Whistler twittered angrily at her. "Yes, I know _I_ put them in, just check them!" Cami got up to go to the back of the ship.

Wedge stayed in the co-pilot's chair. He didn't want to be in Cami's way. The two satellites he could see were slowly orbiting in their direction, with steady flashing lights. They didn't seem like anything special. They were on the day side of the planet, so he couldn't tell if there were any artificial lights below them. The scanners were picking up a few artificial buildings, but nothing significant. Wedge got up and headed to the back to see if he could give Cami and hand. Suddenly, the entire ship rocked and lurched to the side.

"What the hell was that!" Cami yelled as she ran back to the cockpit.

"That felt like something hit us," Wedge said as he sat back down.

Cami slid back into the pilot's chair. "Where did that even come from?"

"There's only those two satellites out there," Wedge said.

The ship rocked again. Cami flipped on the communicator. "Attention, this is the _Pulsar Skate._ We are not hostile, I say again, we are not - oof!" Another hit.

"Stabilizers out," Wedge said. "We're going to lose altitude pretty quick."

Cami jumped up and ran to the back again. "Whistler!" she yelled. "The stabilizers!"

Wedge slid into the pilot's chair. He would have been able to fly the ship fine, normally, but with the stabilizers out and the "custom upgrades" he was fumbling a bit. _Just need to keep it level,_ he thought, as the ship entered the atmosphere.

Wedge tried to boost the reverse thrusters to slow the ship down, but they were only at twenty percent power. _Better than nothing._ He didn't really want to plow through kilometers of trees to slow down, but if he had to… He spotted a clearing about fifteen klicks in front of them. If he could just pitch down a small bit, he could slow down and land…

Another hit rocked the ship, throwing Wedge out of the seat onto the floor. He could hear Whistler screeching in the back. "No no no no no!" Wedge scrambled back into the chair, trying to regain what little control he'd had. One more hit threw Wedge back onto the floor. The side of the ship hit the ground, skidded, and finally came to a stop.

* * *

Wedge shook himself awake as he slowly pushed himself off the cockpit floor. _Hopefully I've had worse landings,_ he thought. "Cami…" Wedge pulled himself up and ran toward the back of the ship. It looked like Cami had been thrown around more than he had. She was unconscious and had some superficial bleeding in a few places, but no other physical injuries that he could make out. Wedge gently picked her up and put her in the medical bay. He applied a few small Bacta patches from the medical storage and placed a blanket on her. _Good thing I came along._

Wedge took a walk around the ship. Everything was out except the emergency power. Even Whistler seemed to have shorted out trying to fix the stabilizers. He plugged Whistler into the emergency power to recharge him. He let the ramp down to talk a walk around the outside. At least they'd landed right side up. The outside didn't look too bad. Everything seemed fixable, hypothetically. _Assuming no one tries to hit us with anything again,_ Wedge thought.

He remembered the buildings that had been in the scanner earlier. _But, good guy buildings or bad guy buildings?_ Wedge wondered as he walked back up the ramp. He couldn't do much, including call for help, at least until Whistler was back up and running. It might be worth a short walk to see if the buildings were even nearby. Wedge pulled a blaster and an extra power pack out of the weapons locker, checked on Cami one more time, and left the ship.

After about fifteen minutes of walking and not seeing anything more than trees, Wedge decided to get to the top of the crest that was in front of him, then head back. At the top of the hill, there were just...more trees. Wedge shrugged and started to turn around.

Wedge stopped and snapped his head to the side. _Did I just see something?_ He carefully scanned as far as he could see into the trees while his hand went instinctively to his blaster handle. After a few moments, satisfied there was nothing there, he kept walking.

Wedge suddenly felt a sharp pain at the back of his head, and blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

Corran knocked on Jaina Solo's apartment door. It was a nice section of Coruscant, high up, near lots of shopping and entertainment, but also easily accessible from Starfighter Command headquarters. All befitting a young Major, working her way up in the military.

Jaina answered her door. "Corran! Hi! What brings you out here?"

"Hi Jaina," Corran said. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Oh no, not at all," Jaina said. "The squadron has a few days of downtime, so I was actually just wondering what to do with myself. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to take a trip to Yavin with me."

Jaina wrinkled her nose slightly. "Not particularly," she said. "What do you need to go out there for?"

Corran wasn't too surprised. He knew Jaina generally shared her mother's opinions about what happened to Jacen and Anakin, and later with Mara. "It's probably nothing," Corran said. "But Luke called Iella a little while ago - which he never does - and apparently said something had happened with Wedge."

Jaina widened her eyes. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Corran said. "He had no details, was just insistent that _something_ happened. Mirax and I got a note from Cami a while ago that Wedge had gone out with her on a transaction, but they only left a few hours ago and weren't supposed to come back until this evening anyway."

Jaina frowned. "Did he say anything about Cami? I feel like if something happened to Cami, you would have felt it or known about it."

"That's what I thought too," Corran said. "And no, he didn't say anything about Cami." Corran paused. "We did try to call Cami on the _Skate_ , but no one picked up. We assumed they were out. I figured I would just go out to Yavin and straighten things out directly."

"And you want some backup," Jaina said.

"If you're not busy."

Jaina smiled. "Sure. I've got some use or lose leave to burn and I'm sure Gavin won't mind. I'll meet you in orbit in an hour?"

"Sounds great, thanks Jaina."

* * *

Corran met Jaina as the two of them left their parked ships and headed for the main Yavin temple. Corran hadn't been to Yavin in six years, since he had picked up Cami and Hal. Luke hadn't even been available for him to talk to. But the place didn't look much different.

Another young woman was coming toward them from the opposite direction. She stopped and gave them a look of mock surprise. "What, who the heck are you two?!"

"Very funny Brianna," Corran said. "Is your father here?"

"I didn't think you two even remembered where this place was," Brianna said.

"We're here to see what your father thinks is going on with Wedge."

"Oh yeah, that." Brianna fell in step next to Jaina. "Yeah, he's here. Last I saw him, he was pacing around one of the meeting rooms off the main control room. What do you know about that anyway?" she asked.

"Not much," Corran said. "Just what Luke told Iella, that 'something' happened, but he had no details."

"So you don't know anything either. That's disappointing."

Corran tried to contain his exasperation. Brianna was _always_ a challenge, and that was only likely to get worse. "Well, at least we can get things straightened out."

Brianna leaned past Jaina to look at him. "You think he's wrong?"

"If something had happened to my daughter and one of my best friends, I think I'd know," Corran said.

"Eh, it's Wedge though," Brianna said. "He's not likely to be wrong about that."

"Yes, but -"

"Oh, and fair warning," Brianna cut him off, "Kyp is here too."

Jaina groaned. "What did you invite him for?" Corran said.

Brianna snorted. "Invite him? I'd sooner invite _you_ somewhere." She threw some hair out of her face. "He got here about a day and a half ago."

"He just showed up?" Corran asked.

"Yes," Brianna said as they came up on the control room. "It might surprise you to learn that some people do, in fact, just show up here."

Corran bit his tongue. It wasn't worth getting so frustrated this early. They walked through the control room to one of the meeting rooms. Luke was standing against a far wall, arms folded, looking pensively at the ground. Kyp was half sitting on a table.

Kyp looked up as they walked in and smiled. "Hi Jaina!"

Jaina grimaced. "Hey," Brianna said. "Stop being a creepy weirdo."

"I was just saying hello."

"No, you're being a creepy weirdo. Do it again, and I'm gonna kick ya out."

Kyp scowled and moved to the other side of the table.

Corran hid a smirk. At least Brianna's attitude was good for putting Kyp in his place. He looked at Luke again. He was still staring at the floor. Corran was having some difficulty reading him. Outwardly, he seemed calm, but inwardly, he seemed tense and anxious. "So, what's going on with Wedge?"

Luke looked up. "Something happened."

"Yeah, that's what Iella told me you said. Do you know where they are?"

"They?"

"Yes, Wedge was out with Cami."

Luke's eyes widened. "I didn't know that."

"So, whatever you felt with Wedge, Cami wasn't included?"

"I - no, she wasn't."

That could be good or bad. "You don't know where they are?"

"No."

"You don't know what _might_ have happened?"

"No."

Corran didn't want to ask this question, but he had to. "Is Wedge dead?"

Luke shook his head. "Definitely not," he said.

Well, that was something. "Do you know _anything_ else?"

Luke shook his head again. "No."

Corran crossed his arms. "That's...not very helpful."

Luke looked at the floor again. "I know."

Corran frowned. _What is the matter with you?_ He glanced to his left and saw Brianna checking her watch. "Do you have someplace to be?"

"Yeah man, I got class," she said.

"Class?" Corran said.

"Yeah, I do lightsaber instruction. Cami knows that, doesn't she tell you anything?"

Corran pursed his lips. He did vaguely remember Cami mentioning that once. But it wasn't worth getting into it with her.

"I gotta go to class," Brianna announced as she walked away. "No one kill each other!" she called over her shoulder.

"You can see why she and Mara didn't get along," Jaina whispered.

"Believe me, I heard all about it," Corran said.

* * *

Brianna led Jaina through a sparring session in one of the empty practice rooms. "How come Kyp doesn't hit on you?" Jaina asked as she parried with her practice saber.

"Probably because he knows I'd whoop his sorry carcass into oblivion if he tried," Brianna said as she struck down, up to the right, and then left. "Did you practice since I last saw you?"

"Some people have real jobs," Jaina said.

"So you're telling me you didn't practice."

Jaina blocked two more strikes and took a swipe to the left. "So he never hits on you?"

"Look, just yell at him, punch him in the face, kick him in the nuts if you have to, he won't do it again."

"Is that what you do?"

"I don't have to," Brianna said as she swung around her back and struck from the top. "I just embarrass the hell out of him when he decides to invade one of my classes like he's some kind of a god's gift to the universe. I am one hundred percent certain you don't practice."

Jaina laughed. "I'd like to see that sometime."

"I'd like to see you practice too." Brianna side-stepped and swung up. Jaina scowled. "Oh, you meant Kyp," Brianna said. "It's entertaining, I highly recommend it. You could even stay for the class."

Jaina scowled again. She twisted the practice saber around in her hands as she stepped in and pivoted the blade up, forcing Brianna to step backwards. "Impressive," Brianna said.

"See, I do practice some," Jaina said. Brianna came around and swung low. Jaina hopped over the blade, then came in with three quick strikes.

Brianna dropped the pitch of her voice. "Most impressive."

"I really hate you," Jaina said as she reset.

Brianna grinned. "Relax, jokes are good for you." She stepped in to strike again.

"You know, this is why my mom doesn't like you." Jaina blocked.

"Oh, come now, I'm sure that's not the only reason." Brianna stepped in again, and drove her blade down and twisted back up, catching Jaina's blade. Brianna finished the twist up and around, completely dislodging Jaina's saber from her hands. It clattered to the floor next to them. Jaina took a deep breath.

Brianna pointed her saber at Jaina. "You need to practice more." She called the practice saber back to her hand and tossed it to Jaina. "Again."

* * *

Luke walked an empty hallway of the bottom level of the temple. After Brianna left, Corran asked him several more questions he didn't have any answers to. Finally, he and Jaina left to find rooms for themselves. Kyp left too, leaving Luke alone again.

Luke let his hand trace the contour of the stone beside him. He could tell no one believed him. Maybe Brianna did. It was hard to tell. But Corran was right. It was odd that only Luke had felt anything and no one else had. He had felt… pain?... fear?... confusion? There hadn't been anything new in hours. Maybe he had imagined it? Maybe he had misinterpreted it? It wouldn't be the first time he had misunderstood something through the Force. Maybe he had dragged Corran and Jaina out here for nothing.

He kept walking, starting to circle back around to the control room.

_Luke_

Luke froze. He slowly turned around. He had never heard Wedge's voice in his head like that before. "Where are you?" he whispered.

_Luke…_

Luke closed his eyes and cautiously reached out into the Force. _Where are you?_

_Skywalker_

Luke's eyes snapped open. That wasn't Wedge. He closed his eyes again. _Wedge, where are you?_

_Come find him, Skywalker, if you can. I'm waiting for you._

Luke took a deep breath, trying to calm his skyrocketing heart rate. _Where -_

_You'd better start searching._

_Tell me where!_

_Don't…_

Luke gasped and leaned into the wall for support as a wave of pain hit him. It wasn't his pain. It was Wedge's. _I will find you -_

_Da'ist en tir sha._

Luke stopped. That was another new voice. It wasn't Basic. He didn't recognize it.

_Vish el tir'un de Vir-Azmun eh vat._

_Mun da!_ The first voice again. _Skywalker! I'm waiting._

_Wedge, where are you -_

_Luke, don't -_

Luke gasped again as another wave of pain knocked him to the floor. "No, wait!" The connection was gone. Luke looked up from the floor and realized he was back in the control room. Shaking, he pulled himself up to lean on the center control console. He had to go. He had to look. He didn't know where to start. It didn't matter. He had to go. _Focus!_ He couldn't focus. He just had to go.

"Luke!"

Luke snapped his head around to see Corran, Kyp, Jaina, and Brianna running into the room. He felt a tiny bit of relief. Maybe they'd felt it too this time.

"What happened?" Corran asked.

Luke pushed himself up. "You felt it this time? Wedge?"

Corran frowned. "You felt Wedge again? Cami?"

Luke felt his relief evaporate. "No. I mean, yes, Wedge, but not Cami. You didn't then." He leaned back on the console and looked at the floor, breathing heavily.

Corran exhaled in frustration. "Did you get _anything_ out of it this time?"

"He's being held."

"Held where?"

"I don't know. I couldn't see anything. Only hear. There were two other people in the room."

"But not Cami."

"No. They were holding him. One was trying to get me to search. Said he was waiting for me. The other came in later. They were speaking...it wasn't Basic. I didn't recognize it."

"What was Wedge doing?" Kyp asked.

"Nothing. Telling me not to come. He was in pain."

"You didn't catch _anything_ they said?" Jaina asked.

"No," Luke said. "Maybe one word. Vir-ash, vir-az, vir-ez..." Luke tried to focus. Corran's frustration was making that difficult. "Vir-azma..."

"Vir-Azmun?"

Everyone turned to look at Brianna. "Yes," Luke said. "That's it."

"Are you _certain_ that was it?"

"Say it again?"

"Vir-Azmun."

Luke nodded, standing up straighter. "Yes. That was it."

Brianna narrowed her eyes and rubbed her hands in front of her face as if she were contemplating a big decision. "All right," she said finally. "Here's what I need all of you to do. I need all of you to move over here." She herded them away from the communications console. She pointed at them. "Say nothing, do nothing, do not come into the line of sight, make no sounds, understand? Great." Brianna turned and slid into the chair by the console and began typing in numbers to make a call.

Brianna finished typing and threw her feet up onto the console while she waited for it to connect. Luke caught a glance from Corran and shrugged.

The call connected, and Luke felt his jaw drop slightly as his nephew Jacen's face resolved into a crisp hologram. Luke felt a jolt of shock from Jaina.

"Hey ho," Brianna said.

"What do you want?" Jacen asked.

"Oh, nothing, you know," Brianna said as she pretended to inspect her nails. "Just wanted to know if it's still cool that I come out next week. That's still cool, right?"

"You never call first. You just show up," Jacen said. "What do you want?"

"What, I can't call and say hi?"

"You don't call and say hi. You show up and say hi. What do you want?"

Brianna pulled her feet off the console. "Sheesh, you're grumpy today."

"No, I am _not_ grumpy today," Jacen said. Luke thought he seemed more amused than anything else.

"So, ah," Brianna leaned forward a bit, "I got a question."

"Obviously."

"Vir-Azmun. Is that one of those groups you were telling me about one time that gives you some problems?"

Jacen frowned. "Yes," he said slowly. "Why?"

"You know where they hang out?"

"Hang out?"

"Yeah, you know, hang out. Home. Shop. Base. You know."

"What the hell are you going to do, drop in and say hi?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking about it. You know where?"

Jacen regarded her silently for a moment. "No."

Brianna leaned back in her chair. "Oh," she said. "That's disappointing."

"We have some candidate places," Jacen said.

Brianna perked up again. "Fabulous! That will do. What can you send me?"

Jacen shook his hand. "Now, wait a minute, I'm not giving you anything until you tell me what kind of insanity you're up to this time."

_This time?_ Luke wondered.

Brianna scratched her head. "It's, ah, how shall I say, um, a rescue mission?"

"A rescue mission?!" Jacen scoffed. "Of who? You don't have any friends."

"I have five thousand HoloBook friends."

Jacen snorted. "No, you don't."

"I do too. Listen, shh, listen," Brianna paused. "So, it's Cami -"

Jacen rolled his eyes. "Fantastic."

" - and Wedge."

That seemed to get Jacen's attention. He turned fully to face her and leaned forward. "Okay, hang on," he said. "Back up and explain this whole thing."

Luke let his mind wander as Brianna explained the situation to Jacen. All of the kids had always loved Wedge. Wedge had baby-sat Jacen and Anakin many times, as had Tycho and Winter. Luke's memory wandered back almost exactly thirty years.

_Han_ , _Leia, Wedge, and Luke stood looking over the side of a small crib, at two tiny human babies. "How do you tell them apart?" Wedge asked._

" _Oh, it's easy for me," Leia said. "They feel very different in the Force. They are unique."_

_Wedge nodded thoughtfully, then looked at Han. "How do_ you _tell them apart?"_

" _Jaina," Han said, pointing to the girl, "is the chill one. Jacen," he pointed to the boy, "is the fussy one."_

" _Actually," Leia admitted, "I use that too."_

_Wedge laughed and looked to his other side._

_Luke shrugged. "They're both fussy for me."_

" _They're ready to eat," Leia said. "You can hold one of them."_

" _Oh, no," Wedge demurred. "It's okay. I've never held a baby before."_

_Leia pointed a finger at him. "Listen to me, Wedge Antilles. If Threepio can learn how to hold a baby,_ you _can learn how to hold a baby."_

_Wedge looked back at Luke. "Guess I'm going to learn how to hold a baby," he said. Luke grinned._

_Han and Leia each took a baby and they headed into the living room. Leia settled down with Jacen and Han handed Jaina to Wedge. As Leia had said, Jaina snuggled in while Jacen squirmed and fussed in his mother's arms._

_After about twenty minutes, Han helped them switch. Leia leaned back with Jaina. Jacen squirmed for a moment, then suddenly relaxed and settled. "Wow," Han said. "I've never seen that before."_

" _What did I do?" Wedge asked._

" _You're going to be my new permanent babysitter, that's what you're going to do," Leia said._

Luke shook himself back to the present. Brianna had finished explaining. "So, can you send me something?" she asked. "Or, better yet, you could just come out. You want to come out? Come hang out."

"What, you're not doing this by yourself, are you?" Jacen asked.

"Nah, I got a team!"

"A team?" Jacen sounded skeptical.

"Yeah, you know, they're a bit motley and disorganized," Brianna said with a quick glance at the group, "but it's fine, don't worry about it. Come hang out."

Jacen sighed. "What am I getting for this?"

"My undying love and affection?" Brianna said.

Jacen grinned. "I thought I already had that."

"I've got a bottle of that whiskey you like."

"Hmm, I am getting low…"

"I'll make cookies."

Jacen laughed. "You're going to pay me in alcohol and cookies?"

"Man, you know you can't get my stuff anywhere else." She dropped her voice to a loud whisper. "Come hang out."

Jacen let out a groaning sigh. "All right," he said. "I'll come out."

"Fantastic!" Brianna bolted up straight in her chair. "This'll be great."

"You're crazy."

"Kay, thanks, love you, bye!"

Jacen rolled his eyes one more time and disconnected. Brianna spun around in her chair looking triumphant. "And that," she announced, "is how you handle business."

"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!"

Brianna waved off her cousin and turned back to the console. "Oh, what's your problem?"

"Maybe you don't remember," Jaina fumed, "but those two turned to the _dark side._ You know what _that_ is, don't you?"

"Eh, it's a spectrum," Brianna said as she started typing again. "I'm not worried about it."

"They _abandoned_ this family!"

Luke caught a quick glance from Brianna. "Is this how point of view works?" she asked.

"Huh?"

She turned back to Jaina. "Look, if you don't like it that much, you're free to go home." She turned back to the console again. Luke couldn't see exactly what she was doing, but it looked like she was erasing any record of the call.

"I'm not going _anywhere_ ," Jaina said.

"Excellent," Brianna said. "You're officially invited to get over it."

"Jaina's right," Corran said. "This is reckless. We don't know what he has or what he's going to do."

"Oh sorry," Brianna said. "I missed all the good ideas _you_ had." Brianna didn't even grace him with a glance.

"You should have discussed this with us before you did it," Corran said.

"You're awfully opinionated for someone who didn't even think this was a real thing twenty minutes ago."

"You can't just run off and do whatever you want!"

Brianna whipped around to face him. "You're entitled to go home and figure this out for yourself too, if you don't like it."

Luke could feel Corran's anger seething, but he kept it in check. Brianna always seemed to have that effect on people. Corran matched her hard stare. He crossed his arms, but he said nothing.

Brianna waited, then smirked. "That's what I thought," she said as she turned back to the console.

"How did you know to call him?" Luke asked. He had completely lost track of most things she was doing over the last six years. One more thing he wasn't very good at.

Brianna briefly glanced at him. "Oh, that?" She waved it off. "I found their hidey-hole about four years ago. I drop by, we hang out, drink beer, do a bit of drunk sparring. It's pretty great."

"Drunk sparring?!" Corran said.

"Eh, maybe buzzed sparring. Anakin always was my favorite sparring partner. But we have an agreement. They don't do anything that would make me have to come out and do extra work, and I come hang out with alcohol and cookies."

"That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Jaina said.

"And yet, highly functional," Brianna said.

"They're probably not even abiding by this 'agreement'," Jaina said. "They're probably playing you."

"Because you would know."

"I know my brothers."

"Ah, but do you though?" Brianna turned to look at Kyp. "So what about you, what's your complaint?"

Kyp leaned against the back of a side console. "I don't have one," he said.

Brianna snorted. "Yeah, that's because you know better." She started to shut down what she was doing at the communications console. "If you want to leave, leave. If you don't want to leave, you have three or four hours to stew in your own annoyance and get it out of your system. Then we can get some work done." She stood up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Corran asked.

Brianna threw him a grin. "I got cookies to make."


	3. Chapter 3

Luke stood in his meditation room, eyes closed, taking deep breaths. It was the room on the fourth floor of the temple that Luke had been assigned when he first arrived there almost forty years earlier with Han and Leia and Chewie. He'd had nothing with him except what he was wearing. After the battle, after the awards ceremony, everyone directly involved had been ordered to get some sleep. Everyone else was packing to evacuate. Luke wasn't able to sleep. So much had happened in only a day. He barely knew anyone. He'd only briefly been introduced to a few other pilots. He'd only had a moment to say hello to Biggs. He'd lost his family. It was almost overwhelming, the complete upheaval of his life. Then, there was a light knock on the door. Luke turned around to see one of the other pilots, Wedge Antilles, looking cautiously into the room, his face tear-stained. Of course. He had just lost his entire squadron, all of his friends. Luke invited him in. They exchanged more formal introductions. Wedge told him how excited Biggs had been when he heard Luke had come in on the freighter with the Princess. He started angling to get Luke into Red Squadron. The whole squadron had already heard all about Luke anyway. Biggs loved to talk about him. They kept talking for hours. They traded stories about Biggs. They talked about where they grew up and how they learned to pilot. They talked about how they came to the Alliance. Luke even told Wedge how R2 had tricked him into taking off his restraining bolt. He had strategically omitted that part when he told Han and Leia the story. They couldn't have gotten more than a few hours of sleep before Command sent them off on their next mission. They worked closely together every single day, right up until the Battle of Hoth…

Luke opened his eyes, letting the memory linger. The temple, built by the Massassi Force users, seemed to absorb emotional memories into the walls. Luke had noticed, when he came back here to start the Jedi Academy, that he could feel Wedge very strongly in this room. It was part of why he had chosen it as his meditation room. Wedge's presence was always calming and reassuring to him.

Luke sat on the bed. He'd never tried to reach out to Wedge from this room. He had never really tried to do that at all, in a way that Wedge would notice. Wedge wasn't Force sensitive, after all. Though, every once in a while, Luke had his suspicions. He closed his eyes again. He reached out into the Force, beyond the room, beyond the temple, beyond the Yavin system. He could still feel Wedge's presence in the Force, just like he always could, even if he didn't know where or how far or what direction.

_Where are you?_

Luke remembered one of the first things Obi Wan had tried to teach him. The Force guides your actions, but also obeys your commands.

_Guide me._

Luke tried to let his mind be moved without influencing the direction. Easier said than done, when there was a goal.

_Luke…_

Luke inhaled sharply. There. _Wedge?_

_I'm still waiting, Skywalker._

Luke gripped the side of the bed. He hadn't made the connection himself after all. _Tell me where you are._

_You're wasting valuable time. Surely if you, the great Luke Skywalker, were looking, you'd have found us by now._

Luke felt his jaw clench. _I am looking and I will find you -_

_Luke, don't -_

_Silence!_

Luke winced as he felt a spasm of pain. Wedge's pain. He could feel himself shaking. He promised himself a long time ago - told Wedge a long time ago - that no one else would suffer or die to protect him. He hadn't done a very good job keeping that promise. _I am coming for you. I know who you are._

_Oh, is that the infamous Skywalker anger? I know who you are too. Good. I look forward to showing the galaxy what a failure of a Jedi you really are._

Luke felt himself stand. _I will not -_

_Luke, don't -_

_Shut up!_

Luke gasped and fell to the floor as he felt another spasm of pain hit. He could feel his mind getting pushed out. He fought his way back in. He staggered up. _You can't hide._

_Then come!_

_NO!_

Luke felt himself thrown back onto the floor and out of Wedge's head. He half pushed himself up, still shaking and breathing heavily. Why, if he wanted a fight, wouldn't he just say where?

_Infamous Skywalker anger…_

Luke rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. It wasn't about whatever fight he wanted. He was being baited. Again. And it almost worked. He and Wedge had had these conversations before. His losses of control. His lapses in judgment. His failures to meet expectations. His failures to take care of his family. All the things Luke wished he had done differently over the years.

Luke blinked and sat up, a sudden thought dawning on him. _YOU threw me out._ Wedge saw what was happening. He always did. Luke grasped the bed frame and pulled himself up, remembering his promise to not let anyone protect him. He rubbed his face and took a deep breath. _Failed Jedi? Just ask anyone._

* * *

Corran sat in the conference room, between Jaina and Kyp. He wished Kyp would find somewhere else to be, but he seemed intent on participating. Wedge always had a bit of a soft spot for Kyp, which Corran had never quite understood.

Brianna came into the room, slid a small container onto the table, and plopped down into a chair. "You guys look like a cheery bunch," she said as she propped her feet up on another chair and pulled out her pocket communicator. Corran suspected she was scrolling Holobook again.

"Do we know _anything_ new yet?" Corran asked.

"Nope." Brianna didn't even look up.

"I don't really like wasting time like this," Corran said.

"You're welcome to waste your time somewhere else." Brianna looked up as Kyp reached across the table. "Hey," she said. "What do you think you're doing?"

"These are the cookies, right?"

Brianna leaned her arm on the table. "Those are not for you."

"I can't have one?"

"Tell you what. I'll make you one when I see you do some bloody work for once, how about that." Kyp kept his hand reached across the table and glanced at Corran.

Corran raised an eyebrow. _Don't look at me, I'm not going to help you._

"Don't look at him, he ain't gonna help you," Brianna said. "He don't even like you. _I_ like you better than he likes you. Sit your ass down." Kyp grumbled, but sat. Brianna went back to her communicator.

Corran glanced at Jaina, but she just shook her head. "There has to be something more productive we could be doing right now."

"Cool, when you think of it, let me know."

Corran rolled his eyes and glanced at Kyp. Kyp just raised an eyebrow. _Yeah, you're not going to help me either._ Corran leaned back in his chair, trying to think of _anything_ useful they could be doing. He heard footsteps running through the control room.

Luke ran up to the door of the conference room. "Where's - oh, you're all here."

Corran sat up. "Did your connection thing happen again?"

Luke nodded. He looked a bit disappointed. "You didn't feel it again, though, did you."

Corran shook his head. "Did you get a location?"

Luke shook his head. "No."

"Cami?"

"No."

Corran tried to keep his frustration from showing. "Anything useful?"

Luke hesitated. "No."

"So what _did_ happen?" Brianna asked. She still didn't look up.

"It was...mostly the same as before," Luke said. "This...person...it's not clear if he's in charge. The second person didn't come in this time. He keeps encouraging me to come look for him. Like he's baiting me."

"Did you tell him to keep his pants on and be patient? We're getting there."

Luke frowned ever so slightly. "No."

"Oh."

"I think," Luke spoke slowly, "he was...intending for this search to be…" Luke stopped. He took a slow breath. "To be...less orderly."

Brianna snorted. "This is orderly?"

Corran leaned forward on the table. "What, like you were going to flip the whole galaxy upside down looking for him."

"That...something like that, yes," Luke said.

"That would definitely be less orderly," Brianna said. "Did you tell him to go shove his head up his ass?"

"No." Luke frowned a bit more.

"Hm, too bad. I would have paid you five credits to see that."

Corran felt just a tiny bit of irritation in Luke. He could be just as annoyed by Brianna as anyone else. He just never did anything about it. Luke pursed his lips slightly and crossed his arms. "Well, Wedge threw both of us out of his head, so maybe that covers it," Luke said.

Finally Brianna did look up. "He did what now?"

"What do you mean 'threw you out of his head'?" Corran asked.

Luke looked at Corran. "I think he - whoever this person is - is using Wedge as sort of a, a bridge, to connect with me. That might be why you haven't been able to sense it."

"Fascinating," Brianna said.

"But he - Wedge - has been telling me _not_ to come, during each connection," Luke continued. "And finally, he just, sort of, threw us out of his head and shut down the connection himself." Luke paused. "At least, I think that's what happened."

"I...didn't realize Wedge could do that," Corran said.

"Wedge has a very strong mind."

"This all makes it sound like a trap," Jaina said.

"Of course it's a trap," Kyp said. "That has never stopped anyone in this room."

Brianna pointed at Kyp. "True statement."

"So what do we do about that?" Corran asked.

"Spring the trap," Brianna said with a small smirk. She giggled as if she had just told herself an inside joke.

"You have to know where it is first," Corran pointed out. Brianna shrugged.

Corran looked up as a hail of screeches, whistles, and twitters came screaming through the control room. R2 slammed into Luke and started rocking back and forth as he twittered. "R2, hang on, slow down," Luke said as he knelt down. "Say all that again." R2 kept twittering.

"Hey, did you just say 'Whistler'?" Corran said. He got up and walked around the table.

"What was that about Wedge?"

"And you said Cami?"

"Hey!" Brianna yelled and all three of them stopped. "One at a time." She pointed at R2. "You. Go in there and plug into something so we can actually read what you're saying." She herded R2 back into the control room. He plugged into one of the comms consoles with screen access.

**I received a message from Whistler. He said he and Cami and Wedge crash landed several hours ago. He has only just gotten enough power back to send a message.**

"Where?!" Corran and Luke shouted.

**He doesn't know. The nav computer on the _Skate_ is still down, along with most of everything else on the ship. He thinks he can get it working. But he doesn't know where Wedge and Cami are.**

"Well, that's just great," Corran.

**He said he shorted out trying to fix the stabilizers as they were crashing. The ship got hit with something physical shortly after they came out of hyperspace. When he had enough power to come back on, he was plugged into the ship's emergency power bank. He thinks Wedge did that. Cami had been slightly injured in the crash and was resting in her cabin with a couple of bacta patches on. He thinks Wedge did that too. There was also a blaster missing from the weapons store. When Cami got up, she told him to get as much of the ship up and running as he could while she went looking for Wedge. Neither of them have come back. He has the life support up and the short range sensors. He's working on the hyperdrive and shields and nav computer.**

"Wait, how did he call you then?" Brianna asked.

"And _why_ did he call you?" Corran asked. "He could have called me. Or Mirax. Or anyone."

R2 let out a low whistle and turned his head slowly toward Luke and back toward Brianna. **Whistler and I have an encrypted comms package we use with each other. We created it a few years ago. He had enough power in the system to connect. Since he didn't know why the nav computer sent them to the wrong system - it was working fine before they were on Coruscant - he assumed I was the safer call.**

Brianna looked at Corran. "That sounds reasonable."

Corran shook his head. "Does he know when he'll have the nav computer up so we at least know where to go looking for them?"

**He didn't. He is trying to be thorough because there might be hidden compromises in the system. I suggested when it was dark enough, that he record a section of local constellations and send it for us to match for a location. That won't be for a few hours though. He'll send whichever he can get first.**

"That's a good idea," Kyp said.

"So, we don't even need Jacen," Jaina said.

"Except we do," Brianna said, "because he'll have more information on this place. Unless you want to fly in blind and get hit with whatever they got hit with."

" _If_ this is even one of his candidate places," Corran said, "which we don't even know."

"Ya'll a bunch of haters," Brianna said.

R2 started twittering again. **There's a small fighter-sized craft coming in to land.** He turned to look at Brianna and then back at the console. **Unaffiliated design.**

Brianna grinned. "Perfect timing!" She headed for the door. She reached behind her, using the Force to grab the container off the conference table. "It's work time!"

* * *

Jacen set his fighter down in the landing area near the main temple. He hadn't been to Yavin in over ten years. It didn't look any different at all. It was kind of disappointing. He finished the shut down sequence and looked out toward the temple. He could see Brianna walking toward him. Luke, Jaina, Kyp Durron, and Corran Horn were behind her. He groaned a bit as he started to pop the canopy. He expected Luke to be here, of course. Jaina and Kyp he could probably, more or less tolerate, as long as they didn't talk too much. But Horn _always_ had his self righteous head stuck up his ass, and he always talked too much for his own good. Brianna had mentioned Cami though, so he probably should have anticipated Horn would be here. "The quicker this gets done, the quicker I can leave."

He slid down the fighter's ladder and walked up to Brianna. He nodded toward the group behind her. "Motley and dysfunctional, huh?"

"Listen, you work with what you've got," she said. She held out a container for him. "Here, have a cookie, you'll feel better."

Jacen took one and bit into it. "Oh, these are the good ones."

"See that, I make you the good stuff," she said. "Come on, we just got some new info in." She took his arm and led him back toward the temple while she explained about Whistler.

"So, what I'm hearing is, I don't actually need to be here," Jacen said, as they entered the control room. "If you're going to find out where to go anyway."

"Wrong! Though, if it makes you feel any better Jaina got the same answer to the same question. Let's see what you got."

Jacen stole a quick glance at his sister. She was clearly less than thrilled about him being there and not doing a terribly good job of hiding her disgust. He pulled a data stick from his pocket and plugged it into a console. He hazarded a glance around the room while he pulled up the relevant files. Horn was oozing suspicion, but that was a regular state of affairs for him. Durron seemed curious, but cautious. Brianna had decided at some point in her life that false pretenses were useful. She looked like she was scrolling Holobook - and she probably was - but Jacen could feel her heightened attention spreading through the room, ready to jump on anyone about to make trouble. Even him.

Luke just felt….closed off. It was a bit unnerving.

He pressed a button and three holograms of planets resolved above the console. "These are the three candidate systems we came up with for Vir-Azmun's headquarters," he said. "The first one is Formuth, in the Illiad sector."

"And who is 'we,' exactly?" Horn asked.

Jacen looked at him and made eye contact, to let him know he'd been heard, and would be ignored. He continued. "The second one is Trenzec in the Ri'ad sector, and the third is Effrin in the Arnac sector."

"Which one did you think was most likely?" Jaina asked.

Jacen manipulated the holograms to focus on the second planet. "We thought Trenzec was most likely. There are some mining operations there and other associated economic activity for the workforce and families. So there's regular traffic in the system. There's not much regulation though, so it would be easy to hide out."

R2 offered a few whistles. "Whistler said barren space, huh? Hm."

"This all happened about three hours after they left Coruscant, right?" Jaina asked. "So where could they get to in three hours?"

Jacen hit a few more buttons and brought up Coruscant and its relative distances to all three systems. "That depends. How fast can the _Pulsar Skate_ go?"

"Technically, it could get to all three," Horn said. "They would have to be going almost max speed to get to Trenzec in three hours though. That taxes the engines too much for something that isn't an emergency. This was supposed to be a quick, easy day trip, and back to Coruscant. Effrin is a similar story. Formuth would be an easy three hours at average speed though."

Jacen adjusted the hologram so Formuth took up the entire space. "This was our least likely candidate of the three for a headquarters." He looked at Brianna. "If the point of this was to come find the place, they probably weren't going to use their headquarters anyway."

Brianna shrugged. "Good point."

"There's not much out here," Jacen said. "That we know of, anyway. So the space around it probably is pretty barren."

"What made you put it on the list?" Jaina asked.

"We've tracked a couple of their people out this way before. We had some suspicions about the satellites in orbit too, that they were part of some kind of defense mechanism or early warning circuit. We did long and medium distance fly-bys of the planet once and nothing got triggered, that we could see, so we figured it was designed to activate on near targets."

"So we'd have to come out of hyperspace far enough out to not trigger anything, then creep our way in," Jaina said.

Jacen shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

"Whistler said they got hit with something physical," Kyp said. "Where would that have come from?"

Jacen shrugged again and hit a few more keys in the console. "The planet has a small moon in a tight orbit. Something could have come from there."

"So," Horn crossed his arms, " _if_ this is even the place we need to be, it sounds like we'd need at least two ships to go in: one to trigger and maybe distract the satellites - if that's how that even works - and one to put the rest of us on the ground." He looked at Jacen. "Is that all you have on the satellites? Any ground defenses? Buildings?"

"Like I said, we never got that close. They want us to find them. They're trying to be coy about it. There might be some additional defenses around whatever facility they have, but probably not much."

"They want _Luke_ to find them," Kyp pointed out. "They don't seem interested in the rest of us."

"So much the better for us, then, right?"

"How do you know about these people anyway?" Horn asked. "What are you tracking them for?"

Jacen glanced over at Brianna who was making another deliberate show of scrolling Holobook. "That's not really any of your business."

"Given what it looks like they can do, they're a threat to the Republic. That makes it my business."

Jacen laughed. "Oh yeah, such a threat to the Republic, you just found out about it today. What do you even do with your time?"

"Clearly something more useful than whatever you've been doing for the last ten years."

Jacen didn't bother to hide his annoyance. "If I wasn't doing what I'm doing, you wouldn't have anything to go on right now."

"Except Whistler is going to send us an actual location in a couple of hours anyway," Kyp said.

"Cami's nav system got manipulated somehow," Jaina said. "Don't you even care about that?"

"That's not my problem," Jacen said.

"Can we...remember why we're here, please?"

Everyone turned to look at Luke. He had taken a couple of steps back from the group, and was looking intently at the hologram planets. Or more accurately, _not_ looking at anyone. His face was passive, though a bit concerned. Jacen tried to read him in the Force again, but he was just a jumbled, indiscernible knot. No one said anything.

Finally Brianna popped up from the chair she was sitting in. "Great, so let's recap," she said. "We all hate each other - as expected. We have...a semblance of a plan, better than no plan. And in a couple hours, we'll have a whole plan. Did I miss anything?"

_Yeah, now I remember why I got the hell out of here,_ Jacen thought. He'd only been here for a few minutes and it already seemed like too much.

"Fabulous," Brianna said. "No one kill each other!" Jacen felt a tug on his shirt and he followed her out.

* * *

Jacen followed Brianna into one of the empty practice spaces. "Let's use practice sabers," he said.

Brianna flipped her lightsaber handle around in her hand. "What? What do you want to use practice sabers for?"

Jacen called one of the practice sabers to his hand. "I didn't come here to attract attention," he said. "I'm pretty sure a red lightsaber would attract attention."

"Oh." Brianna called the other saber to her hand. "Fair enough."

Jacen set, and attacked lightly while Brianna blocked and parried to warm up. "I don't know why you put up with all these people," he said.

"I really don't," she said. "Corran hasn't set foot here in six years. I only see him when I visit my brother on Coruscant. Kyp shows up here once in a while when he's bored. I don't even remember the last time Jaina was here. I see her on Coruscant, sometimes. And my dad, he's either here doing...I don't even know what, or he's out doing stupid shit for your mom." She pivoted and went on the attack. "Having this confluence of people in one room is a minor miracle."

Jacen made a face. "Doesn't she have anything better to do?"

"She never has anything better to do."

_That's for damn sure._ Jacen stepped back and reset. "I don't know why you stay here."

"I got class."

"Oh, stop, that's a lame excuse. _All_ of us left. Even Jaina got out. You're not even doing anything here." He went back in for another attack. "I keep telling you, you can come hang out with us."

"I've got projects."

"No, you don't." Jacen swung left, right, and from the top. "You did that one project that you didn't even show anyone." He attacked again. "You spend three quarters of your time off Yavin hanging out with someone, doing something crazy, baking, or sitting around watching holodramas." He blocked her as she came in for an attack.

"This place would stop running if I left."

"One, that's not even true. I bet R2 runs this place more than you do. Two, even if it was - " Jacen blocked, then disengaged and took a couple steps back from her. " - would that really be so bad?"

Jacen watched her stare at him for a moment. This was a conversation they'd had before. He could never get an answer out of her. "This place is dead. People are either like Kyp, off doing their own thing, like Horn, deluded into thinking the senate cares about them, or just _here_ because they don't know what else to do with themselves."

Brianna twirled the saber around in her hands with a small smile. "Sheesh, now I feel attacked."

Jacen shook his head. He wasn't going to get an answer today either. "You can come hang out." He attacked again.

"I already hang out."

"Fine. Have it your way." He blocked up, to the left, and up again. "Can you at least speak up earlier next time, so I don't punch Horn in the face when he says something asinine?"

"You think I should say something sooner?"

"Yes."

Brianna blocked down, then backed up to reset. Her impish grin had reappeared. "You know," she said, "I was this close," she held up her thumb and forefinger about a centimeter apart, " _this close_ to making a small moon joke."

Jacen sighed and lowered his saber. "You know, this is why you don't have any friends."

Brianna attacked again. "I have lots of friends."

"You have _one_ friend."

"Cami's my friend."

"Okay, you have two friends." Jacen backed up as he blocked. "You just can't help yourself being a little weirdo." Jacen kept backing up as Brianna's attacks sped up. Jacen tried to keep up, but she was too fast. He finally slipped right while she went left. They both froze as her saber stopped right below his chin. "Damn it."

"You keep talking shit, I'm gonna make you do this to music."

"Frickin' weirdo."

* * *

Jaina stood in the main hangar area of the temple. She'd gotten something to eat then took a walk by herself to clear her head. All the hostile emotions were giving her a headache. She watched Jacen enter from the far end of the entryway. He kept walking and didn't look at her. "You could at least say hello," she called out.

Jacen stopped and slowly turned to look at her. "Hello." He turned and kept walking.

Jaina pouted. She hadn't seen her brothers in ten years. Brianna hadn't bothered to tell anyone she found them. Was it really so wrong of her to want _some_ kind of connection? "I don't know what your problem is."

Jacen glanced back at her. "No, I'm sure you don't."

Jaina's irritation got the better of her. "You could at least stop acting selfish for five minutes and have an adult conversation."

Jacen turned on his heel and stalked toward her, his eyes flashing. Jaina backed away a few steps and her hand instinctively dropped to the lightsaber at her side.

"Yeah, that's right, reach for your lightsaber," Jacen said as he came right up to her face. "You're so busy playing fighter pilot, you probably can't even hit the broad side of a wall. Lucky for you, Brianna could check both of us."

"I'm doing a service to the Republic," Jaina said. She was proud of her military service. Some people had been skeptical of her after her mother's treasure box had been made public, and the family secret let out, but most had accepted her for the independent person she was. "As a pilot and a Jedi."

"Yeah, sure you are," Jacen laughed. "Just like Luke and just like grandpa Anakin, right?"

"You disgust me," Jaina said. "At least I'm trying to do some good in this galaxy." She was definitely regretting trying to talk to him.

"No one cares how self-righteous you are," Jacen said. "You're just a prop for other powerful people."

Jaina felt her chest tighten. "You have NO idea how much people appreciate what we do," she said. "You were too busy being selfish. You abandoned your responsibilities and you abandoned this family!"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Princess."

"I'm no princess," Jaina snapped.

"You're just spoiled rotten like one," Jacen sneered. "So perfect. Everyone's favorite. Can do no wrong."

"Jealousy is unbecoming," Jaina said.

"I have something better than you'll ever have," Jacen said. "My freedom. I'm free of the restrictions, the expectations, the politics, all the asinine crap. This whole place is rotted and dying."

"The dark side clouds your thinking," Jaina said.

Jacen chuckled and shook his head. "You actually say that? Your fancy friends in Coruscant high society must love you."

Jaina seethed, but even she had to admit that getting caught up in the intersection of the Jedi, the military, and politics made her uncomfortable. There never seemed to be any good way to manage all of it.

"Hey." Kyp walked up next to them. He looked at Jacen and then at Jaina. "Is he bothering you?"

Jaina's face immediately twisted into a mixture of disgust, horror, and annoyance. "Excuse me?"

"Did you really just say that?" Jacen said.

Kyp looked at Jacen again. "It looks to me like you're bothering her."

Jacen turned to face Kyp. "Who invited you over here?"

"Were you invited?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I was."

"Maybe you've worn out your welcome."

"Aw, are you her knight in dusty Jedi robes?" Jacen said. "How adorable."

" _Excuse me_ ," Jaina said more loudly. "I don't need to be saved by or from anyone."

Jacen smirked. "Well, you wore out your welcome a lot quicker than I did."

"At least I'm trying to do something decent."

Jacen snorted. "Now where did I just hear that?"

Jaina folded her arms. "I don't know which one of you disgusts me more."

"Hey, I _wanted_ to leave you alone," Jacen said.

"And yet, here you are," Kyp said.

"No one asked you here."

"Boo."

Kyp jumped, startled at the sound. He turned around to glare at Brianna. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Brianna poked him in the shoulder. "What did I tell you about being a creepy weirdo?"

"I was not being creepy," Kyp protested.

"I've been standing here for ten minutes," Brianna said. "I was watching you."

"What? No, you weren't," Jacen said.

"Yeah, that's cool right?" Brianna said. "That's a cool new thing I'm teaching myself, you didn't even know I was here."

"Wait, what are you teaching yourself?" Jacen said.

"What, so you can sneak up on people and scare the shit out of them?" Kyp said.

"No, not just for that," Brianna said. "That is an entertaining byproduct though."

"Did you come over here for a reason, or just to harass people?" Jaina asked.

"Harassment is always an entertainment objective for me," Brianna said. "You know this." Jaina rolled her eyes. "But, no," Brianna continued. "Apparently R2 heard from Whistler again, so there's actually, like, work to do."

"You stood around for ten minutes waiting to tell us that?" Kyp said.

Brianna shrugged. "I was kind of curious to see how this played out." Kyp stared at her. Brianna clapped her hands. "It's game time people! Game face, grrrr." She grinned at Kyp.

"You're such a weirdo."

Brianna wagged her finger at him. "Better to be a regular weirdo than a creepy weirdo," she said lightly. Kyp glared at her one more time, then walked off toward the control room. Brianna turned back toward her cousins. "Pro tip," she said, "if you're weird enough, they go away."

"Uh huh," Jacen said.

"Although, if they come back, you might have made a friend. I've had both things happen to me." Jacen and Jaina exchanged a glance. "Game face! Grrrr." Brianna threw them a wink and walked away.

"I absolutely believe that," Jaina said.

"Can confirm," Jacen said. Jaina looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Jacen grinned. "Game face!" He ran to catch up with Brianna.

Jaina shook her head and followed them to the control room.

* * *

Corran stood leaning against a console in the control room with Luke and R2. He had sent Brianna looking for Jaina, Kyp, and Jacen almost fifteen minutes ago. Kyp finally walked in, scowling. Clearly, he had encountered Brianna. About a minute later, Brianna came in, followed closely by Jacen and Jaina. "Well, good," Corran said. "We can get started. Go ahead R2."

R2 plugged into the center console and pulled up a star map. **Whistler doesn't have the nav computer fully up and running yet but he was able to record the local stars and send them to me. I have already analyzed it against existing star charts with a focus on Jacen's three candidate planets. Our target does appear to be Formuth.**

"Well, look at that," Jacen said.

R2 posted a hologram of a Formuth up above the console. **We don't have much additional information than what Jacen already provided. Archive records show the planet has some abandoned wood production facilities in the northern hemisphere. Whistler said the short range scanners picked up some buildings about three kilometers from his location. If they are the same buildings listed in the archives, we can make an estimated sketch of the interior.**

"That's useful," Corran said. "Anything new on the satellites or the moon?"

**Whistler said the satellites appear to be short range information relays, able to reach the nearby buildings and the moon. I mentioned Jacen's suggestion that the satellites were part of an early warning circuit and he concurred that was a likely possibility. He didn't know if what had physically hit them came from the moon, but he couldn't discount it either.**

"Do the satellites track one thing at a time, or how does that work?"

**Unknown.**

"Hmm." Corran leaned forward on the console, a plan formulating in his head. He wished he knew more about how the satellites worked. "You said we could make a sketch of the buildings. Can you pull that up?"

The hologram of the planet and moon fell away and one of a large complex of buildings appeared. **These are the buildings located in the archive data that are in the same general location Whistler identified. The data are over a decade old. Most of the building is one story, though some areas are two stories. It used to be owned by a Traxian wood building company, making novelty and custom furniture, but it went out of business during the Yuzong Vong war. There is a center courtyard and a main entrance on the south side. There are several secondary and tertiary entrances all around the perimeter.**

Corran looked up at Jacen again. "How many people do you think would even be at this place?"

"Not many," Jacen said. "There's not even one hundred people in the whole group. This isn't a headquarters, and I'd bet they have other things going on right now, so there can't be that many people."

"So what, twenty?"

"No more than that."

Corran looked at Luke. "Definitely two." Luke nodded.

"They are expecting us to show up," Kyp said. "They aren't going to leave the place completely unguarded."

"Yeah, but they probably aren't expecting us this quietly or this quickly." He looked at Luke again. "And probably not more than just you, right?"

Luke cocked his head thoughtfully. "I hadn't thought about that. You're probably right."

"Do you have any idea where in the building Wedge might be? Assuming that's where he is."

"No," Luke said. "But I'm sure I can find him once I get inside."

"Okay," Corran said. "We have three things to do on the ground: find Wedge, find Cami, and pick up Whistler and the _Skate_. I can pick up the ship." He pointed to Luke. "You can find Wedge." He looked at Brianna. "Can you find Cami?"

Brianna stretched. "Sure, that's easy."

"Right." He looked at Jaina. "Think you can keep the satellites busy while the rest of us land?"

Jaina nodded. "I wish I knew more about how they worked, but if they are just simple tracking, relay, and trigger, I can play a game of tag with them while everyone else is on the surface. Would be easier with two fighters though."

"Okay, so you and Jacen can -"

"Whoa, hold up. I'm not taking my fighter anywhere _near_ this operation," Jacen said.

Corran frowned at him. "Why? It looks like a reasonably competent fighter." He saw Brianna glance up.

Jacen sneered back at him. "It's a superior fighter, and one I custom built that someone there might have seen before. I'm not trying to advertise myself. I'm not taking it near this op and I'm definitely not taking it near _her_ New Republic fighter."

"It's my _civilian_ fighter," Jaina said.

"Have you looked at it?" Jacen said. "It practically screams New Republic military. Forget it."

"Fine, whatever." Corran waved it off. He looked at Kyp. "What about your fighter?" He saw Jaina make a face.

"I don't have it here," Kyp said.

"What do you mean, you don't have it here?"

"I have a fighter and a shuttle. I can't fly both at once. I have the shuttle here. What about _your_ fighter?"

"I don't even have a personal fighter anymore," Corran said. "And I need to pick up the _Skate_ anyway." He looked at Brianna. "I don't suppose you have a fighter."

"Are you kidding? I can't even park properly."

Corran rolled his eyes. The one Skywalker who wasn't a highly competent pilot. He looked back at Jaina. "Okay, maybe you can -"

"You can use mine."

Everyone turned to look at Luke. "Who are you talking to?" Jacen said.

"You," Luke said. "You can use mine. It's a bit old, and finicky, and you'll need R2. But, it works. And it's civilian colored and registered. And not even under my name."

Brianna leaned over to look at her father. "What name is it registered under?"

Luke hesitated. "John Smith."

Brianna started to grin. "Get out, it is not."

"It - yes, it is."

Brianna's grin got bigger. "That is my new favorite thing today." She pointed at Jacen. "What say you?"

Jacen groaned. "Seriously?"

"Your other option is to be on the ground with the rest of us schmucks where someone might actually see your face."

Jacen wrinkled his nose and sighed. "All right," he said. "I'll do it."

Brianna threw Corran a small, but triumphant look. Corran had to admit, she had a knack for getting people to do things. "Right. So. We come into the system far enough away so the satellites don't detect us." He looked at Jacen. "Maybe whatever you used for a medium distance fly-by." Jacen shrugged. "Then the fighters get close and engage the satellites. While the satellites are busy, the rest of us come in on a shuttle, drop me off to get the _Skate_ , then you three head to the building complex." He looked at Luke. "You look for Wedge," and he looked at Brianna, "and you look for Cami. I wait for your signal so we can all take off at the same time, and the fighters can cover our exit."

"What am I supposed to do?" Kyp said.

"Make sure no one gets dead on the way out," Corran said.

"You can come with the two of us to the building," Brianna said, "and go cause some chaos in the opposite direction while we get work done."

Corran couldn't help smiling a little. "There, see, you can do something you're good at." Kyp sneered back at him. "One last thing." Corran looked at Luke again. "Do you think either of them will need immediate medical attention? We know Cami got hurt in the crash, but it didn't seem serious. From what you said, I'd be surprised if Wedge wasn't injured."

"I…" Corran could feel Luke's anxiety spiking. "He did seem like he was in pain," Luke said. "We probably ought to plan for it."

"What's on the _Skate_?" Kyp asked.

"Not a lot," Corran said. "Mostly just basic stuff. And we might not have time to transfer anyone and I don't know what the state of the hyperdrive is. Is there anywhere close in the Illiad sector we can get to?"

"Wasn't the _Errant Venture_ recently in the Illiad sector?" Brianna asked. "That's got a great medical bay."

Corran frowned. Calling Booster for help wasn't his idea of fun on a good day, and Mirax had almost certainly already told him about this. "I don't know."

"I'm pretty sure that's true," Brianna said. "I'm pretty sure Cami and I were talking about that not too long ago. You should call him up."

"We could just show up with a Star Destroyer," Kyp said.

"We're trying to sneak in and sneak out," Brianna said, "not bombard the place."

Corran frowned more. Booster almost certainly would show up and bombard the place if he knew Wedge and Cami were already off-planet. But, Brianna was right. This wasn't that kind of operation. "Well, we don't even know he is out that way, so -"

"Well, that's why you _call_ first," Brianna said. She started to smirk and Corran didn't like it. "Do you need back up calling your father-in-law because he's gonna yell at you?"

"No, I do not need 'back up' calling my father-in-law," Corran snapped. "And certainly not from you. You don't even know Booster."

"Sure I do! Cami and I hang out there all the time. We're drinking buddies." Brianna stood up. "All right. Everybody out. He doesn't need to be embarrassed in front of everyone." She started herding Kyp and Jacen and Jaina toward the door.

"No, I am _not_ 'embarrassed' to call anyone -"

Brianna cut him off. "You are standing in a room full of Force users whose literal job function is to sense emotions and detect liars. You are fooling no one." She pointed at everyone else. "Out!"

"Aw, this is the part I _wanted_ to see," Jacen said with a smile.

"I'll give you another cookie to make up for it later."

Corran could feel himself getting angry but he forced it back down. The worst part was that Brianna was right. He really _didn't_ want to call Booster and he knew everyone could sense his emotions just as well as he could sense theirs. Kyp and Jacen thought the whole exchange was hilarious. Jaina felt bad for him, and she threw him a sympathetic glance, but she started to walk out too. Luke...was inscrutable, but he clearly still wasn't going to say or do anything about Brianna's behavior. In fact, he seemed to be running out the door faster than anyone.

Brianna shut the door to the control room and powered up the main communications console. Corran moved to stand over her. "I don't like your attitude problem," he said.

"Yeah?" Brianna said lightly. "I don't like your lack of participation problem."

"I have been doing _all_ of the planning -"

"Says the guy who hasn't called or set foot here in six years."

"If someone needed something from me, they should have asked."

Brianna slammed her hands on the console and jumped up in Corran's face, forcing him a step back. "You were asked," she growled. "Ah-ah," she said when Corran started to protest. She pointed a finger in his face and kept her voice low. "I know exactly what you did and I know exactly what you _didn't_ do, so I'm not having it. If you can manage to rub a couple of brain cells together, you might think of it. If you want to have it out later, I am more than happy to oblige. I'm really good at this, so I'm going to win. But right now, you're going to sit your ass down, call your father-in-law, and try not to make yourself look like an idiot."

Corran held her glare for a moment. He couldn't think of what she was referring to. But he had a nagging feeling he should know. He sat down in the chair and started to put in the call to Booster's private office on the _Errant Venture_. Brianna moved out of the field of view.

About a minute later, Booster's face appeared on the console. "Where the hell are you calling me from?" he barked.

"I'm on Yavin," Corran said, "at the Academy, I -"

"You better be calling to say that's where you found Wedge and my granddaughter."

Corran took a small breath. "No, they aren't here. But, we know where they are and we -"

"We? You better have someone competent running whatever operation you're doing."

Corran bit his tongue. He knew Booster did have confidence in him, and he was just upset, but it still stung a bit. "Yes, we have a team, and a plan, ready to go, we just need you -"

"Oh, now you need my help."

"No. I mean, yes, not on site -"

"What the hell are you calling me for CorSec?"

Corran felt Brianna jump in behind him. "Hi Booster!"

"Oh, Brianna! I should have known you'd be involved. How are you, my girl?"

"I'm great," Brianna said. "We're about to kick this thing off, stealth op, roll in, handle some business, roll back out. What my friend here is trying to tell you," she slapped Corran on the shoulder a couple of times, "is that we need you on standby about thirty minutes out because we might need use of your medical bay and Coruscant might be too long a trip to wait. Are you still in the Illiad sector?"

"Yes I am."

"Fabulous. You know Formuth?"

"Never heard of it."

"That's all right, don't worry about that part. My boy's going to send you some coordinates for a good meet up spot. It'll probably take us a few hours to get there. Won't take us long to do what we got to do, and we'll send you a note when we're on our way back out."

Booster leaned forward. "It's not...just you two, is it?"

"No, no," Brianna said before Corran could answer. "Once we get on site, my job is to find Cami," she tapped Corran's head, "he picks up Whistler and the _Skate_ , and my dad will be along to find Wedge."

Booster frowned. Corran remembered Booster's skepticism when Leia's treasure box got published, and his and Mirax's annoyance when they found out Corran had known that particular fact and not told anyone. "Are you sure he can do that?" Booster asked.

"He is the reason we even know about this," Brianna pointed out.

"Yes, but, you're sure he can find Wedge?" Booster asked.

"One hundred percent guarantee it," Brianna said. Corran slightly cocked his head in Brianna's direction. That was one of the most positive things he'd ever heard her say about her father.

"Well. All right. You tell me where to be, I'll be there."

"I found a spot," Corran said. "Sending coordinates now."

A few seconds later, Booster nodded. "Got it. I guess I'll wait for your next call."

"Excellent. We're traveling light, so I can't bring you a present. Next time," Brianna said.

"You bring back Wedge and Cami, that will be present enough."

"You bet. Take care friend. We'll see you in a bit. Yavin out." Brianna reached over Corran's shoulder and disconnected the call. Corran looked at her and waited for the next insult he knew was coming. "You suck," she said.

"Do you have anything other than insults?" Corran asked.

"Yeah, but you gotta earn 'em," she said. She started to walk out. "Pack your stuff!"


	4. Chapter 4

Jacen sat in the twenty-year-old X-Wing, reminding himself where all the controls were. It had been a long time since he'd tried to fly one and that had been mostly simulators when he and Jaina were kids. In that sense, it was just as well this one was old. But 'finicky' was an understatement. He growled as a couple of flipped switches didn't do what he wanted.

**I can do that.**

Jacen glanced up at the sound of R2's twitters then down at the screen. "Finicky is more like obstinate," he said.

**It hasn't had a factory overhaul in a long time.**

"Should probably just scrap it and get a new one," Jacen muttered. "Well, look, I probably don't fly like you're used to."

**You're the third generation I've flown with. You're all different.**

Jacen frowned. _Third…? Oh, yeah._ He and Anakin had escaped well before the treasure box was made public. They'd known the family secret, of course. But not the extent of R2's involvement. Brianna had filled them in, years later. "How come you never said anything about all that?" Jacen asked. He'd always been a bit curious.

There was a short, regretful tone, then words appeared on the screen. **I thought Obi Wan, and then Yoda, would have a plan. Any kind of plan. Turned out their only plan was to lie, die, and put off any discussion as long as possible. By the time I realized that was all they were going to do, Luke already knew the important pieces. After that, I'd held onto it for so long, I wasn't sure if anyone would be angry about it. I'm only a droid.**

 _I bet no one actually thinks that._ "You thought Luke would be mad at you?" Jacen asked. Luke could have some strange temperaments, but Jacen couldn't imagine him being mad at R2.

Another short whistle. **No.** A pause. **Not Luke.**

Jacen frowned. Then he caught on and nodded. Of course she'd be mad about that. "Can't say I blame you there." Jacen flipped another switch and nothing happened. "Are you sure this thing works?"

**I do regular maintenance on it.**

"Yeah, but when was the last time anyone _flew_ it?"

There was another pause. **It's been several years.**

"So why bother to do the maintenance?"

**Just in case.**

"Just in case what?"

**He needs to use it.**

"What does he fly now?"

**Just the shuttle.**

"Why?"

**I speculate it's because he doesn't need me to come along to fly it.**

Jacen turned around in his seat. He could only see the top of R2's dome. "I thought he took you everywhere."

Jacen heard a long, low, tone. He couldn't decipher it. He turned back to the screen.

**He used to.**

Jacen stared at the words for a moment. He took a slow breath, then shook his head. "Come on. Let's make sure we can get this thing off the ground."

* * *

Corran sat in the copilot's chair of Kyp's shuttle. They had decided to use Kyp's since he would be providing overwatch on the ground and making sure everyone got out. Jacen and Jaina were prepping their fighters and Corran had passed them the rendezvous coordinates for Booster. They were just waiting for Luke and Brianna to board.

Brianna came in and dropped a small backpack into the chair behind him. "I'll be right back. Don't touch my stuff!" She started to walk out.

"What's in the backpack?" Corran asked.

Brianna turned back around with that annoying small grin she had when she was about to say something she thought was amusing. "Toys and candy," she said.

"No really," Corran said, "what's in the backpack?"

"Toys and candy!" She turned to leave again. "Don't touch my stuff!"

Corran turned to Kyp. "What's in the backpack?"

Kyp shrugged. "I don't know."

Jaina's voice came over the comms system. "It really is toys and candy."

"What?" Corran said. "What kind of toys?"

"She usually has a toy X-Wing."

"And a toy TIE fighter," Jacen added.

"And a bouncy ball."

"But, WHY?" Corran asked. "What does she do with them?"

"She uses the Force to make them fly around and dog fight," Jaina said. "It used to drive Mara nuts. She hated it."

Jacen chuckled. "It was pretty funny though."

"You didn't think so then."

"Well, I think so now."

"Fine, never mind," Corran said, cutting off a potential argument.

A few minutes later, Luke came into the cockpit and sat in the seat behind Kyp. "Brianna said she had one more thing to do real quick, then we should be ready to leave." He glanced at the backpack and then at Corran. "Is that yours?"

Corran frowned. "No, it's Brianna's."

"What's in it?"

Corran raised his eyebrows. "Seriously?"

* * *

"Coming out of hyperspace in one minute," Kyp said.

 _Thank the Force,_ Corran thought. It had been an awkwardly silent four hours. As soon as they took off from Yavin, Brianna had pulled some earbuds out of her backpack and started watching something on her communicator. Luke had withdrawn into himself and hadn't spoken to anyone. And Corran certainly wasn't going to make small talk with Kyp Durron for four hours.

The familiar streaks of light resolved back into stars and the shuttle came out of hyperspace at the edge of the Formuth system. He keyed the comms unit. "Red 1, Red 2, check in," he said, calling Jaina and Jacen using the monikers they had agreed on before they left. Jacen had readily accepted being Red 2. Corran wondered if Jacen knew that Wedge had been Red 2 during the Battle of Yavin. He must have.

"This is Red 1, on station."

"Yep."

"I've got our satellites on the scanner," Kyp said. "Not getting any readings from them. They don't seem to be powered up."

"Okay," Corran said, "Red 1, Red 2, take it nice and slow into the system." The two X-Wings maneuvered toward the planet, with Jaina in the lead. "Keep watch on that moon."

"Quiet so far," Kyp said.

"We're getting awfully close," Jaina said. "We're just under a hundred thousand klicks out."

"I don't see anything - wait, first satellite is powering up!" Kyp said.

"I see it, it's locking on to me."

"Second satellite is up and locked on to me," Jacen said.

"Blasters ready," Kyp said.

"Stand by," Corran said. He held his breath for a moment.

"Two more signals inbound!" Kyp said. "They came from the moon."

Jaina broke left and down, came back up, and targeted the first projectile. It exploded in a small burst, scattering pieces in front of her. Jacen dove down and circled back up, letting the second projectile pass him by. It continued out to the edge of the system and didn't circle back around.

"Huh," Corran said. "It locks on, but doesn't seem to have a dynamic targeting system?"

"That doesn't sound very sophisticated," Brianna said.

"Three more signals inbound," Kyp said.

"What you lack in sophistication you can make up for in volume," Corran said. Jaina and Jacen each destroyed a projectile while the third sailed out of the system. "All right, next test. Let's see if they can track more than two targets. Red 1, Red 2, we're moving in," Corran said as four more projectiles launched. "Keep the channel open."

"Copy," Jaina said. "Good luck."

Corran put the coordinates for the _Skate_ they'd derived from Whistler's constellations into the navigation system. The shuttle entered the atmosphere unnoticed by the satellites. It was getting close to dawn, local time. Corran scanned the tree lines as they got closer. "There," he pointed. "I can see it."

Kyp whistled. "Wow, they really did crash." Kyp slowed the shuttle down. "There's a small clearing over there. I can land, if you can walk."

"Yeah, that's perfect."

As Kyp put the shuttle down, Corran got up and retrieved an extra tool kit he pulled from his own shuttle before they left. Kyp opened up the side hatch for him. "Should be about half a kilometer to the southwest," he said.

"Okay, hopefully this won't take too long. I'll be waiting on your signal when you're on your way out." He started to step outside.

"Corran," Luke said, "may the Force be with you."

Corran looked back at Luke. He looked so earnest, even smiling a bit. Corran felt a bit bad, feeling so frustrated with him earlier. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Brianna's head pop out from behind the bulkhead in the cockpit to look at him. He ignored it. He nodded back at Luke. "You too. See you soon." Corran stepped off the shuttle and felt the whoosh of air as the door closed and it took off again.

After a short walk, he came up on the _Skate_. At least it was right side up, mostly. He started to do a walk around to inspect the outside when he heard a flurry of whistles and twitters. "Whistler!" Corran ran up to the droid at the base of the boarding ramp and gave him a huge hug. "Whistler, what happened?"

He followed the droid up the ramp into the ship. "And why didn't you call me?" Whistler let out a series of twitters and beeps. "Yeah, I know, you thought it was the safer call," Corran said. "Still. You and Cami seem to know an awful lot of things I don't." He pointed at the droid. "We're gonna talk about that later."

Whistler gave him a loud hoot.

"I know she's an adult. She's still my daughter."

Whistler let out a long trill which Corran interpreted as a sarcastic laugh.

Corran sighed. "Okay fine. Let's work on the hyperdrive. We can fix the rest later."

* * *

Staying close to the treetops, Kyp's shuttle landed about a kilometer up a hill from the main building, inside another clearing. Kyp opened the hatch. "Come on, I saw an open patch in the trees. We should be able to see the building from there." Luke and Brianna followed him out. At the tree line, they could see all the way down into the small valley as the dawning light got brighter. Kyp pulled a small disk out of his pocket and lit up a hologram of the building R2 had downloaded from the archives. "That looks like our building," he said.

Brianna looked at Luke. "Well? Is it?"

Luke looked down at the complex. He could just see it in the pre-dawn light. Wedge's presence was much stronger now and definitely coming from the building. "Yes, this is it," he said. "He's here."

Kyp looked around Brianna at him. "You can tell?"

Luke frowned. "You can't?" He had thought for sure once they were closer everyone else would be able to feel it too.

"I don't know, it's like there's something in the way."

"Never mind, we can worry about that part later," Brianna said. She looked at Luke. "Where in the building do you need to be?"

Luke looked down the hill again. "Is that the main south entrance in front of us?"

Kyp held up the holomap again, reorienting it to match the building. "Yes, we're looking northwest right now."

Luke nodded. "That's where he is. Northwest."

"Perfect." She pointed at Kyp. "You can go create chaos on the east side."

"You know, I'd wager you're better at chaos than me," Kyp said.

"I'd wager I'm better than you at a lot of things, but I need to look for Cami," Brianna said. Kyp scowled and tried to look past her at Luke. Brianna moved to block him. "Don't look at him, he's not gonna help you. Listen, here's what you're gonna do." She pointed back toward the shuttle. "While we go down, you're going to move the shuttle and park on the west side. Then, you go make chaos on the east side, and we all meet back on the west. Right?" She looked back at Luke. "How long do you need?"

Luke looked over the building again. He didn't know who or what else might be in there. "Less than an hour?"

"Cool." She turned back to Kyp. "Give it about 30 minutes. Then go nuts. Right?"

"Yeah, sure," Kyp said.

"Excellent. Don't get stuck in any trash compactors." She winked, cinched the straps of her backpack, and headed down the hill.

Luke shook his head. She always loved that story. He looked at Kyp, who was still scowling a bit.

"Don't look at me, she's your kid," he said and he turned to go back to the shuttle.

 _She certainly is._ Luke shook his head again and followed his kid down the hill.

* * *

Brianna walked along the south side of the building, to the west of the main entrance, looking for a good spot to get in. She had tried finding Cami in the Force, as a more direct way to determine where to go, but all she could sense was Cami and not a direction. It seemed, whatever Kyp's issue was trying to sense where Wedge was wasn't just Kyp's issue.

She stopped in front of a small window that was about a meter off the ground. The lock on the inside looked basic and mechanical. She flipped the latch to the side with the Force and pushed the window up. She climbed in and found herself in what looked like an old administrative office. There were a few desks, chairs, old datapads, shelves, crates. It was dusty and musty. Brianna had looked up the place on the HoloNet during the trip. Old product reviews were actually pretty good, but during the war people stopped buying 'organic' looking furniture. Some customers even got hostile, forcing the owners to abandon the plant, rather than close it down in an orderly way.

Brianna stepped out into the hallway. It was dark but for the little bit of light coming in from hallway windows. None of the lights worked. She turned right and then left up a corridor going north. She stopped at another doorway labeled 'stairs.' One of the HoloNet pages she'd read said the executive office suites were on the second floor. _Bet that's interesting._ She walked up the stairs. At the top of the second flight was another door, with a more sophisticated lock. She knelt down and put her hand against the lock, using the Force to examine the details inside.

Most of what she knew how to do with the Force she had taught herself. Brianna had been left largely unattended, especially in the past fourteen years since the Yuzong Vong war started when she was ten. But even before then, she had been so good at figuring things out quickly that her father and Mara had focused more of their attention on her brother Corey and sister Yvonne. That is, when they were even around and not running off doing something for Leia or making Leia's kids their priority. Which was most of the time. Brianna had been perfectly happy for Mara to leave her alone in any case. A little bit of creativity, ingenuity, and plain old fun was how Brianna learned most things. But with Mara it was always her way or the wrong way. _Good riddance._

Brianna found the main locking mechanism. She used the Force to make a series of small, precision adjustments inside. The locked whirred, clicked, and opened. "Ha, results!" Brianna opened the door into a well-lit hallway.

 _Executive suite all right._ Beyond being well lit, the hallway was also carpeted, with intricate molding along the floor and ceiling. There were picture frames, empty ones, hanging all along the walls. The doors into offices were made of dark heavy wood.

She turned right, and then right again. She could hear voices up ahead, from one of the open doors. She could sense people, but the sense was vague. Brianna approached the open door and tried out the same trick she'd played on her cousins earlier. She wrapped the Force around herself like a blanket, then unfolded it back out on itself, creating a kind of two-way mirror in the Force. Anyone trying to sense her would get back at most their own reflection.

Brianna peeked into the room. It was a control room, of sorts, probably reconfigured from whatever it had been. Two people stood at the desk, observing some monitors. She didn't recognize the species.

"Vort isht alt vah X-Wing ahn vant."

"Shir vin Skywalker ahn vant?"

The first one shrugged. "Est ah."

Brianna started to reach around to her backpack for her communicator so she could record, when a third person, human, walked into the room from the opposite side. "Do you have a report?"

"The two X-Wings that came into the system earlier are still there. They're just blowing up our projectiles."

"Skywalker flies an X-Wing, yes?"

"They aren't even trying to land."

"Well, we didn't think he'd come alone."

The speaker turned around to look at the human. "They aren't even doing anything. This is a waste. I told you this wasn't going to work."

"We had an opportunity, we took it."

" _You_ took it. We didn't even have permission. This will be on your head, not mine."

Brianna rolled her eyes. That certainly explained some things. These kids were definitely not the organizational A-team.

An alarm sounded on the control panel. "Some of our inlaid defenses have been engaged on the east side."

The human smiled. "Good. I told you this would work. Now go make sure he has to fight his way west." He left the room from where he'd entered.

One of the other two muttered something Brianna couldn't hear. "Shamt dah," the other one said. Brianna ducked behind the door as they exited into the hallway and walked east.

Brianna stood in the middle of the hallway and watched them walk away from her. She looked at the door and back at them as they turned a corner. _Well, I guess if you think no one's here, it's cool to leave the door open._ She walked into the control room. There wasn't much in it. There were four different monitors, but she wasn't sure what they were looking at. And nothing was in Basic. There were several computer ports though. _Never R2 when you need him,_ she thought. "Plug in, you should be able to interpret the entire Vir-Azmun network," she muttered in a mocking tone. _These guys probably can't even spell port security._ She spotted a few loose datapads on a desk. _Those will have to do._ She scooped them up and put them in her backpack, then headed back downstairs the way she'd come.

Back in the dark musty hallways of the first floor, Brianna walked down another hallway heading east. Her threat perception began to tingle as she came up on another intersection, but she could only vaguely sense a person. _Damn it, what is that?_ She unclipped her lightsaber from her belt loop and ignited it as she spun around the corner, coming face to face with an orange blade. Brianna relaxed. "Oh, it's you." She disengaged her own yellow blade.

"Brianna!" Cami powered down her lightsaber. "Boy, am I glad to see you."

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Look. I've been trying to find Wedge, I think he's here -"

Brianna waved her off. "My dad's taking care of that. Don't worry about that part. Come on." She started walking south.

Cami followed. "Your dad's here?"

"Yup."

"Well, we're going to need to pick up my ship -"

"Your dad's taking care of that. Don't worry about that part."

" _My_ dad's here?"

"Yep."

"Your dad and my dad were...in the same room together?"

Brianna grinned at her. "Wild, right?"

Cami stopped and gave Brianna a hard look. "Did you yell at my dad?"

"No, of course not."

Cami raised an eyebrow.

"Only when he deserved it," Brianna amended.

"You think that's all the time."

"No I don't."

Cami raised the other eyebrow.

"Listen," Brianna put her hand on Cami's shoulder, "here's what I'm going to tell you. The number of times I yelled at him and he _didn't_ deserve it were _definitely_ minority cases."

Cami gave her an incredulous look, shook her head, and started to walk away.

"Aw come on, that's a good statistic!"

Cami shook her head again and Brianna jogged to catch up. "I heard alarms going off too, by the way," Cami said.

"Oh yeah, that was Kyp, I told him to do that." Brianna grinned. "Don't worry about that part."

"And the tracking satellites?"

"Jaina."

Cami made a face. "You had Kyp and Jaina in the same room?"

"This wasn't exactly a planned event, you know."

"Does Jaina hate you?"

"For that? No. She hates me because Jacen's here."

"What?! You are the most insane person I know."

"Thank you!"

"How did you even manage this?"

"Harassment, flattery, cookies, and alcohol."

Cami grinned. "How much did you drink?"

Brianna smirked. "Personally? Not nearly enough. That's okay though, I'm gonna make up for it later. Hey." She poked Cami in the shoulder. "What do you know about this place anyway?"

"Nothing."

"What do you mean 'nothing'? You've been wandering around here for a whole day. Oh, that reminds me." She reached into her backpack and pulled out a piece of candy. "Here."

"Ooh, these are my favorites!"

"See, I take care of you," Brianna said. Cami snorted. "No really though, what do you know about this place?"

"Nothing," Cami insisted. "I haven't even seen anyone. I've been trying to look for Wedge but…"

"Go on."

Cami stopped and folded her arms as she thought. "It's like...it's like a distorted radio signal that's been spread out too far," she said. "But sometimes there's a, I don't know, a gap in the distortion where the signal was concentrated again, and I could follow it. Then it got distorted again."

"How many times did that happen?"

"I don't know."

"Twice? More than twice? Less than twice?"

"Hmm, yes, I think it was twice."

Brianna narrowed her eyes. "Fascinating." She checked her watch. "We need to go west."

"What's west?"

"The 'out' door. Come on, let's go."

* * *

Luke walked through a dark hallway headed north. He stepped cautiously, running his hand along the wall as if he were following a scent. He remembered again all the times Wedge had sat and listened patiently to the steady stream of adversity in his life: When he had come back from Bespin, when Luke told him the truth about Anakin Skywalker, after Luke's nearly disastrous encounter with the cloned Emperor, after Leia's treasure box had been made public, pretty much anything in the past ten years. Never any judgement or scolding, just patience and friendship and occasionally, advice.

Luke stopped. The sense of Wedge he was getting seemed to be waning. He wondered if that was what Kyp had been describing earlier. He closed his eyes to concentrate.

Luke's eyes snapped open. That wasn't it. He started walking faster.

Luke stopped short in front of one door. He turned to face it. Focused on the inside, his hand waved absently over the lock, his only conscious thought, to open the door. He stepped inside. It looked like an old lounge room or break room. The lights were dim and flickering. He stepped around a pole to see around to the other side of the room. His breath caught, and he ran to the other side of the room.

Wedge was slumped over on a bench, unconscious. He looked like he'd been physically beaten, covered in scrapes and bruises. And one blaster bolt to the abdomen. Luke knelt down and put one hand on the wound. He could feel Wedge's slight breathing. Luke's own breathing was shaking.

Healing had never been his best skill. He'd had students along the way who were naturals, but he'd usually left them to the Holocrons. He'd never had much reason or opportunity to practice it himself. _Just need to stop the bleeding_ , he reminded himself. He pressed his hand into the wound, feeling the Force flow. _Just stop the bleeding._ Dutifully, the Force moved from cell to cell, coagulating and clotting.

Being careful not to move him too much, Luke raised Wedge slowly up off the bench with the Force, as if he was using a repulsorlift plank. Out in the hall, Luke tried to remember which direction he'd come from. _Right_ , he thought. He tried to sense Kyp or Brianna, as he headed south. He didn't know where the shuttle was. It shouldn't have been far, but Luke realized his sense of anyone else was vague and intermittent. The hallway was dark, and he was having trouble remembering if he'd turned at all on the way.

Luke heard voices up ahead. His hand dropped to his lightsaber. He wasn't sure if he could fight and hold on to Wedge at the same time. He hadn't even fought anyone in years. He slowed down as he approached an intersection. The voices got louder.

Brianna and Cami came around the corner. Luke let out a small breath of relief.

"Oh!" Cami said. "You found him!"

Brianna gave her a light poke in the shoulder. "See, I told you he would. Mission accomplished, let's get the heck out of here." She led them south down the hall.

"I wandered around here for a _day,_ " Cami said.

"Would you never mind, we can worry about that part later - oof." Brianna stopped short as he ran into Kyp, who was coming around another intersection. "Seriously?"

"Oh good, there you are," Kyp said. "The shuttle is this way. Let's go before more automatic defenses get activated."

"More what -?" Brianna was cut off as they ducked from the incoming blaster fire. She lit her lightsaber and maneuvered around Luke to deflect bolts coming from the north, while Kyp and Cami blocked from the south, leaving Luke in the middle with Wedge. "You were supposed to keep the chaos on the east side!"

"You didn't specify that part!"

"It was implied! Are we even close?"

"Yes, but the door is further south!"

"Make your own door, twit, what is wrong with you?!"

Luke watched Kyp back up and drive his violet blade into the outer wall next to them, cutting a hole. Luke suddenly felt shaky again. He tried to focus on Wedge. He turned around to look at Brianna. He had never seen her fight before. He knew she gave lightsaber classes, of course, but he'd never actually stopped to watch her. She moved firmly, but lightly, as the blade twisted in her hands. It was almost as if she were dancing. He even thought he could hear her humming above the noise.

There was a crash behind him and Kyp yelled again. "Everybody out!" Kyp started running, leading the way to the shuttle. Luke followed. Cami came up behind him and sprinted past. Luke turned around one more time to see Brianna continuing to block blaster bolts as she backed out of the hole. Inside, he could see two more people running at them. One lit a magenta lightsaber and charged at the hole.

"Go home and tell your bossman you suck!" Brianna yelled and slammed the wall cutout back into place. She ran to the shuttle.

Luke followed her inside. In the back, Luke gently laid Wedge down on a side bench. He could hear the other three yelling at each other and the shuttle rocked as it took off. He knelt down and put his hand on Wedge's shoulder. He wondered again about the mental connection, how that even worked. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, letting himself sink into the Force.

In his mind, he opened his eyes. It was almost completely dark. He heard a noise behind him and turned. "Hello?"

"Luke? Is that you?"

"Wedge?" There was a pause and then Luke felt himself enveloped in a huge hug. He smiled. It felt good.

"They were looking for you."

Luke could feel Wedge frowning. "I know," Luke said. "It's okay."

"They were trying to get you to -"

"I know," Luke said again. "It's okay. Everything's okay now."

Wedge pulled away a bit. "But Cami -"

"She's fine, Brianna got her."

"- and Whistler -"

"Corran is picking up Whistler and the _Skate._ "

"Oh." Wedge paused and looked around. "Where are we?"

"Technically, we're in the back of Kyp's shuttle, on the way out."

"We got hit in orbit."

"I think Jaina and Jacen have taken care of that part."

Wedge paused. " _Jacen!?"_

"It's been a strange day," Luke said.

"I bet," Wedge said. He looked around again. "Back of the shuttle?"

"Well, _this_ ," Luke gestured around, "is the inside of your head."

"Mmm," Wedge nodded. "I figured my head would be brighter."

"You _are_ unconscious."

"Oh. Of course." Luke could feel Wedge starting to shake a little. "They were looking for you," Wedge said again. "They wanted you to...to -"

"I know," Luke said. "I didn't do it."

"You didn't?"

"You understood before I did. You stopped me."

"I did?"

Luke smiled and gave his friend a hug. "You knew me better than I did. Just like you always do."


	5. Chapter 5 and Epilogue

Safely landed in the _Errant Venture_ 's docking bay, Corran finished the shut down sequence for the _Pulsar Skate_. Through the cockpit window, he could see a medical team bringing Wedge off of Kyp's shuttle, with Luke following closely behind. Cami and Brianna stopped to talk to Booster, then Brianna walked to the other side of the bay, presumably to check on Jaina and Jacen. Once they were away from Formuth, Corran realized he could sense both Cami and Wedge normally again. He didn't know what happened, but he was glad they were all away from there. "Come on, Whistler, let's go."

By the shuttle, Corran gave his younger daughter a big hug. "You're okay?"

Cami shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine. Kind of hungry, but not hurt."

"What were you thinking, going off by yourself though? You should have called someone."

Cami pulled back and crossed her arms. "Nothing on the ship worked. Whistler could handle that part, and I wasn't going to just sit around and wait to go look for Wedge."

"You still should have called someone."

" _Whistler_ called someone as soon as he was able. Or are you just mad because he didn't call _you_?"

"I'm saying you put yourself in a bad position."

"You would have done the _exact_ same thing."

"That's no -"

"All right, hold on here," Booster interjected himself between the two, holding up his hand to stave off any more arguing. "I'm sure everyone's tired and hungry and worried about Wedge. Emotions are high. We can all discuss this more calmly later." He turned to Cami. "Why don't you go clean yourself up a bit and then use my office to call your mother, okay?" He gave Cami a quick kiss on the cheek and sent her off.

Corran started to follow her. "Hold on a second there, CorSec." Booster grabbed his arm and held him back.

Corran winced. He knew he wasn't going to like what was coming.

"She's right, you know," Booster said. "You would have done the same thing."

Corran sighed. They _were_ right. "She could have gotten into a lot of trouble. She could have checked it out, come back, called, made a plan." Corran was already kicking himself for what he was about to say. "Just because I would have done it doesn't mean it would have been smart."

Booster laughed and slapped Corran's shoulder. "Well, look at you. It is possible to get through that thick head of yours." Corran suppressed an eye roll. "Let me give you some advice CorSec," Booster continued. "As someone who has a lot of experience raising a smart, independent-minded woman."

Corran smiled. "You do have that."

"You're not going to win. Even when you're right, which will be virtually never, you're not going to win."

Corran sighed. "Yeah."

"And for the record, you're wrong."

"Yeah." Corran tried to change the topic. "You're being awfully nice about it though."

Booster looked around as if to make sure no one was listening. "Well, it took me until Mirax was a lot older than Cami is to figure that out," he said. "If it takes you that long, _and_ I'm giving you advice, I really will wonder how thick your head is."

Corran smiled again. He remembered Mirax and Booster going back and forth a long time ago about him needing to trust her more and remember she was an adult. "Fair enough," he said.

"Good. Now go wipe that smut off your face before you go talk to my daughter."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Corran walked into the _Errant Venture_ 's medical bay, where Wedge was getting Bacta treatment. It was going to take another couple of hours to get back to Coruscant. Mirax told him she and Iella would make sure they were met at the Military Medical Facility's emergency landing platform. Everything was fine. It was all over but the waiting and the recovering.

Cami slipped past him through the door to sit on one of the beds next to the Bacta tank. Jaina moved over so Cami could sit between her and Brianna. Luke was sitting at the far end of another bed, closest to Wedge, with Kyp next to him. Corran sat on the other side of Kyp. No one else seemed hurt…

Corran shifted slightly to look around Kyp at Luke. He was sitting cross legged, hands folded in his lap, eyes closed. Corran almost would have thought he was meditating. But inside, Corran could sense he was roiling. Corran hesitated to call it emotional distress, but he couldn't find another word for it. He was definitely more anxious than he had been before they left Yavin.

He glanced around the room at everyone else. They were starting to notice it too. Kyp, Cami, Jaina, and even Jacen were exchanging intermittent glances with each other, while peering closely at Luke. Everyone looked concerned. Everyone, except Brianna.

Brianna pulled the bouncy ball out of her backpack at her feet. Sitting between Cami and Jacen, she lay down on the bed and started tossing the ball up in the air to herself. She seemed determined to ignore what was going on around her.

"Brianna," Corran whispered. "Brianna."

"What?" she said more loudly than normal.

"Can you sit up please?"

"Why are you whispering?"

"Brianna, I'm trying to talk to you."

Brianna sighed and sat up on her elbows, letting the ball hover above her. "What do you want?"

Corran nodded at Luke.

Brianna looked vaguely in that direction of the room, then back at Corran. "What?"

"Seriously?"

"Speak up, I can't hear you."

Jaina poked Brianna in the arm, then pointed at Luke. Brianna looked at Jaina, at her father, then back at Corran. "Ohhhhh!" she said in mock realization. "That?"

"Yes. That."

Brianna shrugged and let the ball fall into her lap as she sat up. She flipped it around in her hands. "What about it?"

"You don't think that's a problem?"

"Nope. In fact, I think it's a good thing."

Corran's eyes widened. He looked back at Luke. He hadn't moved. Not even flinched. Like he hadn't heard any of this. Even Jacen looked at her like she was crazy. "What?"

"Yeah, and you know what?" She stood up. "This is so much _not_ a problem, that I'm going to get food. See you later!" Brianna walked away and snagged her backpack with the Force as she exited.

After another second of collective stunned silence, Jacen ran out after her.

* * *

Jacen stood in the _Errant Venture_ 's botanical gardens watching the hyperspace streaks go by. He'd gotten food with Brianna after her little blow up with Corran. She had been moody and didn't talk much, so Jacen didn't ask her what she was thinking. Her father was practically about to have an emotional breakdown and she just...walked off. Jacen recognized he hadn't seen anyone but Brianna in a long time, but he had always remembered her as being the most tolerant of Luke.

After eating, Brianna wanted to run around the ship saying "hi" to all the people she knew. He went with her at first, assuming she wouldn't talk to that many people. But Jacen was surprised how many people enthusiastically returned her greetings. She knew more people than he'd given her credit for. But he decided to part ways as they passed the hydroponics bay. The peace and quiet was nice.

So he scowled a bit as he sensed someone else come up behind him. He turned to see Booster Terrik walking up, with two half-full glasses in his hands. He set the glasses down on the railing in front of them.

"Brianna tells me you like whiskey," Booster said. "Pretty sure I don't have the kind you like, but this one isn't bad either."

Jacen wasn't sure he was comfortable with other people knowing too much about him. "She talks about me?"

"Well, not a lot," Booster said. "But I know enough to know this probably isn't the first thing you wanted to do today. I'm certainly no expert on any of this, you know, Force stuff."

"Uh huh."

"And I'm not sure I _want_ to understand all of your...family dynamics."

"Welcome to the club."

"I know you weren't really here for Cami," Booster said. "That's okay. Wedge is important to me too. Corran's got a bit of a thick head and is probably a bit too proud to come directly thank you himself. But I'm not." He picked up the two glasses and handed one to Jacen. "Thank you."

Jacen accepted the glass and took a small sip. "It's good. What is it?"

"Rylurian whiskey. They age it in _portusch_ barrels for anywhere from five to fifty years."

Jacen nodded and took another sip. "I take it this is a fifty year batch?"

Booster grinned. "You bet it is. My guests get the best around here."

Jacen nodded again. "I'll have to look into it."

Booster gave him a light slap on the shoulder. "You can just leave the glass there when you're done. Someone will pick it up."

Jacen turned back to the window as Booster left. He stared at the glass for a moment. It _was_ good whiskey.

* * *

Corran stood outside the medical bay. They were due to come out of hyperspace in about thirty minutes and he wanted to round everyone up. Everyone had left the medical at some point to get some food and rest. Except Luke. He still hadn't moved. Corran had looked in a couple of times over the past few hours and he was still in the exact same spot in the exact same posture. The only thing that seemed to have changed was that he was even _more_ anxious. Corran was beginning to wonder if Luke knew something the rest of them didn't.

Kyp emerged from another hallway. "We're coming out of hyperspace soon," Corran said. "Where is everyone?"

Kyp shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't see where anyone else went."

"Luke is still sitting where he was."

"Yeah," Kyp said. "I saw that earlier."

_So helpful,_ Corran thought. He turned around to see Brianna coming up, alone, bouncing her ball as she walked. "We're coming out of hyperspace soon," he said. "Where is everybody?"

"Jacen was in the hydroponics bay, in the gardens. I can get him. Not sure where the other two went."

Corran decided to see if she was feeling less combative now. "You know, your father is still sitting exactly like he was."

Brianna started tossing the ball up. "Oh yeah?"

"Whatever he's anxious about, it's gotten worse."

Brianna caught the ball and made a show of looking behind Corran at the medical bay door. "Huh. So it is."

"Aren't you going to do something about this?"

"No. Why?"

"You're his daughter!"

Brianna snorted. "Right. I'm his kid, not his friend. If you're so concerned, _you_ do something about it." Kyp let out a short laugh and Brianna turned on him. "Or you could do something about it," she snapped.

"You see him every day," Corran said. "You are the best placed to -"

"Yeah, cool, when you want some participation points, let me know." Brianna turned back around and slammed her ball into the ground, catching it as it came back up. "Gonna go grab Jacen."

Corran shook his head as she walked off. "I don't understand her." He looked at Kyp. "Well, you talk to him more than I do."

"What? No I don't."

"I haven't really talked to him that much in years. You're on Yavin all the time."

"No no," Kyp said. "Definitely not all the time. Sometimes. But I don't talk to him every time I'm there. Your kid is married to his kid. You do it."

"They don't talk to him either," Corran said.

"Well, that isn't my problem." Kyp turned around. "I gotta prep my shuttle."

Corran sighed and checked his watch. Twenty minutes until they came out of hyperspace. He took one more look at the medical bay door, then headed to the hangar to see if he could find Cami and Jaina.

* * *

Down in the medical center platform, Corran gave his wife a big hug. "Thank goodness this was fast," Mirax said.

"Yeah, it actually ended up being pretty straightforward," Corran said. "Mostly."

"We just need to get the _Skate_ a thorough set of diagnostics," Cami said. "Make sure nothing else is wrong."

"Yeah, we can work on that tomorrow." She looked over Corran's shoulder. "What's Luke doing?"

Corran turned to see what Mirax was looking at. Some medical attendants had transferred Wedge to a medical gurney and were moving him inside. Iella was waiting by the entrance. Luke had started to follow them. "Probably just wants to go along," Corran said. "He's been awfully quiet. Kind of weird. Probably just worried." Corran wasn't sure if he was trying to convince himself or Mirax. Corran hadn't thought it was possible, but Luke had gotten even worse. One a scale of one to ten between emotionally dead and a catastrophic breakdown, he'd put Luke at about a seven.

"Oh," Mirax said. "They probably won't let him in. Family only."

"Oh." Corran watched one attendant walk up to Luke and speak briefly. Luke nodded slowly then took a couple of steps back. Seven and half.

"I'm sure he understands," Mirax said.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Corran looked over at Kyp. He was standing a few meters behind Luke, eyes wide. And a few meters behind him, stood Brianna. Glowering.

"Corran, we need to go," Mirax said. "We need to get the _Skate_ off the platform."

"Yeah." Corran turned around to look at his wife and daughter. Cami looked disturbed. She was sensing it all too. He looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Corran? Hello, we need to go."

"I, yeah, just, hang on one second." Corran turned and jogged over to Luke. As he got closer, he could see Luke was shaking a little bit. He slowed down. "Luke?" He didn't turn right away. "Luke?"

Luke finally turned to look at him. "Yes?"

"Listen," Corran said. "We need to get the _Skate_ off the platform. But, then we're going home for something to eat. Do you...want to come?"

Corran gasped and stepped back. Luke had just skyrocket to a nine. He was suddenly screaming inside. _What is going on?_ It was a deluge of pain and anguish and fear. _Why?_ "You can come -"

"No, it's okay."

His voice was almost perfectly calm. Almost. "What? Are - are you sure?"

"It's okay. I don't want Mirax to be upset."

"No, she's not -" Corran turned around to look at her. She _was_ kind of annoyed. "Well, but -"

"Really, it's okay."

Luke had come back down to an eight. Corran wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't force him. "Well, if you're sure…" He gave Luke a light squeeze on the arm. There was another short burst and then back down.

Luke gave Corran a brief nod, then walked back to Kyp's shuttle. He walked past Kyp and Brianna, saying nothing to either of them. Now shaking a bit himself, Corran walked back to Mirax and Cami.

"What was that all about?" Mirax asked.

" _What did you say?!_ Cami asked.

Corran shook his head. "I...have no idea what that was."

* * *

Epilogue

"I just…can't figure out what to make of it," Corran said.

Tycho took a sip of his coffee as he listened. "Well, they've known each other a long time," Tycho said. "They're really close."

"Well, yeah, but -" Corran paused as someone walked closely past their outdoor café table. "I've known you all for almost as long. Everything is going to be fine. The docs said as much to Iella. But this was practically a full-on emotional collapse."

Tycho shook his head. "That just doesn't sound like Luke though. He's the most put-together person I know."

"That's what I'm saying, I don't understand it," Corran said. He took another sip of his own coffee. "He was acting strangely the whole time."

"Maybe you misread it?" Tycho suggested.

"No, definitely not," Corran said. "Kyp felt, Cami felt it. It was so, I don't know, _loud_ in the Force. Like an explosion. I called Corey and Lujayne later, and Lu told me the kids started _crying_. They didn't know what to make of it either." Corran swirled his cup around. "I told Mirax about it. She thought he was trying to blame her. I said, no, he genuinely didn't want her to be upset about anything. But it was just dinner. I mean, I know we haven't hung out or talked to him too much lately, but," he looked up at Tycho, "it was just...well, kind of traumatic."

Tycho reached across the table and patted Corran's arm. "Listen. Luke is one of the most resilient people I've ever known. You're probably reading too much into it. You were concerned about Wedge too."

"Yeah," Corran said. "Could be."

* * *

"Whatcha got?" Anakin asked.

Brianna pulled a bottle out of her backpack and handed it to him. "These are those lagers you like."

"Oh, excellent."

She handed one to Jacen and took one for herself. She put her feet up on the footrest in Jacen and Anakin's lounge. The dark decor and dim lighting were relaxing. She popped the cap off with the Force. "Cheers."

"Cheers," Jacen said.

"Oh, hey," Brianna dug back into her backpack, "I have another present for you." She pulled out three datapads and handed them to Jacen. "Here."

Jacen took them. "What are these?"

"Just a little something I took from the pseudo control room on Formuth."

Jacen raised his eyebrows at her. "You just walked in and took it?"

"These guys were definitely not the Vir-Azmun A-team," she said. "Probably not even the B-team."

Jacen started scrolling through one of the datapads. "Did you read any of it?"

"None of it is in Basic."

"So? Get a translator."

"Do you know what kind of sass I get from R2 when I want something translated?" She raised the pitch of her voice to a mocking tone. "'Do I look like a translator droid?' 'Do I look like 3PO to you?'" She dropped her voice back to normal. "No, but you know how to download and run software, my dude. Sheesh." Anakin laughed. "So no," Brianna said. "I did not ask him to translate."

"Uh huh."

"Besides, I've been busy."

"Yeah, sure you have," Anakin said.

"Did you figure out how Cami's nav system got hacked?" Jacen asked.

"No."

"Did you figure out why we were _all_ having sensing issues around Formuth?"

"No."

"Sounds suuuuper busy," Anakin said.

"Shut up, you."

"I actually have a thought about that one," Jacen said. "Anakin and I were discussing after I got back. We realized we've come across similar things before. Force sensing problems. Sometimes we're dealing with Vir-Azmun when we notice it. Sometimes it's another group. Sometimes it happens and we don't know who we're dealing with."

"Sensing things with the Force isn't exactly a precise science," Brianna said.

"Yeah. But it's always something that we otherwise wouldn't have a problem with. Sometimes sensing people is fuzzy, like Formuth; sometimes threat perception is Blocked, and _sometimes_ ," he gave Brianna a knowing look, "you don't even know a person is there until they're right on top of you."

"Huh." Brianna took a sip. "So?"

"You like puzzles."

"I have enough puzzles."

"Like what?"

"Like managing the collective catastrophe that is Skywalker-land."

Anakin snorted. "What now?" Jacen said. "Or maybe I don't want to know."

"My dad, practically having an emotional breakdown on the med center platform."

Jacen looked up, surprised. "Is _that_ what that was?"

"Oh, you felt it too?"

Jacen shook his head. "I was about to go to hyperspace. Then this… explosion… outburst… thing happened. What the hell was that?"

Brianna grinned and chuckled a little. "Corran asked him to come have dinner with them."

Jacen screwed his face up in confusion. "What _?_ "

Brianna set her drink down, sat up, and started storytelling. "So, I'm on the platform, right, about five or six meters back from my father. I couldn't hear anything." She started motioning with her hands. "I watch Corran walk up, say something, _thing_ happens, Corran walks away again. I'm talking to Corey on one line, I've got Jaina on the other line, Jaina has your mom on her other line, Lu is next to Corey. _Everyone_ felt it, I can hear the kids crying in the background. It's chaos."

" _Why?_ What happened?"

Brianna shrugged. "Dunno man. We get back in the shuttle, me, him, and Kyp, he says nothing the whole time. We get back to Yavin and he's back to whatever passes for normal for him. I called Cami later, 'dude, what the heck?' and she says, 'yeah, all he did was ask him to come to dinner.'"

Jacen sighed and shook his head. "I am so glad I don't have your life."

Brianna put her feet up again and grabbed her drink. "Right. I already got chaos and puzzles." She gestured to the datapads. "So you hang on to that, and you can give me the highlight holo later. Oh, and don't let me forget, I brought you more cookies."

* * *

Coming soon: The Shape of Perception Book 2: Interlude


End file.
